Two of a Kind
by DiscordianSamba
Summary: AU At 17, Samantha Manson has never found herself in a more awkward position than she's in now. A complicated love triangle, overbearing parents, a band, evil plots, and the mystery lying between two strange boys both named Danny. DxS... twiceover. Rewrite upcoming!
1. The Beginning

**AN: **I know, you all must think I'm crazy, right? But here we have a new story, and it's one of four I'm planning on writing. This is just the introductory chapter, and not too much happens. I was going to add more to it, but I decided that this would extend the chapter too much, and I didn't want to do that.

As for the story itself, ah, there's an interesting story. This story is actually based off an idea for an RP that I had with Amai/ Sammy/ ChibiSamiSala. We played it out for quite some time, but it eventually died. I, however, adored the idea of Danny being split in two, and seeing as how I was playing both of them anyways, I decided to take the plotline and change it (with permission, of course). And this is the result. The plot setup is largely different from the one of the original RP, though there certainly are similarities. But I'm sure all of you have had enough of this author's note and just want to get on with the story right? Heh, I'll go on about the similarities and differences in other author's notes. Happy readings! Please leave reviews, they make me happy inside. And slightly squishy.

Danny Phantom does not belong to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman, and I am not making any money off of this. What your uncle Bob told you was a lie, you should know by now that Uncle Bob's a liar.

(LINE BREAK)

Two of a Kind

Chapter One: The Beginning

"Well, Tucker, what do you think?"

Seventeen-year old Tucker Foley glanced up from the game he was playing on his GBA-converted PBA, blinking rapidly as his eye fell upon the girl in front of him. She was his childhood friend, Samantha Manson, though if you tried to call her Samantha, you'd probably wind up learning quite intimately what her fist was like. It was Sam, or nothing else.

And currently, Sam was dressed in an outfit that he had never imagined to see her in. The Goth girl had unique tastes in clothing, he knew, but this one... this one _really _took the cake and furthermore impaled that cake through the sharpest stake she could find.

She was dressed in a black tank top, it's left sleeve lowered so that it bared her shoulder, revealing a cloth wrap of fishnet that she had tied underneath it. The shirt's sleeves, as well as it's hemming, were torn. She wore a silver chain belt, with several more chains dangling from a pair of black and violet camo-styled cargo pants, her usual pair of black combat boots finishing off the outfit. Her hair, normally pulled up by a violet hair tie, was now held with a black scrunchie, that fanned outwards and reminded him vaguely of a lotus flower.

Tucker blinked a few more times, before clearing his throat. "Well, uh, Sam... it's... very... unique. I don't think I've seen an outfit quite like it..."

The raven-haired girl grinned. "That's pretty much the whole point." Teasingly, she stuck her tongue out at him. "At least I'll stand out more than _you _do." Her violet eyes fell on her friends outfit of choice-a plain yellow long-sleeved shirt, jade green military vest, and matching jade green cargo pants. She had just barely managed to convince him to exchange his glasses for a visor, and she couldn't seem to get him to remove his red beret.

"Hey, I like my look." Tucker shot back, sending a glare at his friend.

Sam laughed. "Oh, I know. I'm just saying that we're going to clash, is all." She grinned and flopped down beside him on the couch he was sitting on. "So, with you on drum, and me on vocals, that leaves us needing someone who can play the guitar, right?"

Tucker nodded. "Remind me again though why exactly we're staring a band?"

"Because we can, and because the majority of the music that you hear today is pre-packaged corporate garbage." Sam said pointedly, one of her fingers wagging in front of his face as if she was somebody's lecturing mother.

"Right, right, I forgot we were doing it for your agenda." Tucker grinned, leaning backwards on the couch and yawning slightly. "So, how do we plan on getting said guitarist?" He cracked an eye open, glancing over at his longtime friend... and then wished that he hadn't. She had one of _those _looks on her face.

"Open tryouts."

(-LINE BREAK-)

Two rather grueling days went by, as Sam and Tucker begin their search for the guitarist. They had put up filers all over the school, as well as in the Nasty Burger, and their favorite hangouts-Sam's gothic bookstore, and Tucker's favorite Internet cafe. And once all of that was over, the tryouts themselves had begun.

Not much to their surprise, the turnout was very, very low. In all, there were about ten people, not including the one who had gotten Tucker's address mixed up with one for the International Potato Convention... whatever that was about. Sam and Tucker made a point not to ask.

Now that they were all over, Sam groaned, slumping back on the couch, one of her hands covering her face. She let out a deep sigh and slowly slid it off, staring up at Tucker, who was still filing through some sheets and frowning deeply. "You'd think..." she began, her voice showing her deep irritation. "...that out of ten people, we'd be able to find someone who could play the guitar _decently_."

"You'd think." Tucker frowned, tossing the stack of papers over his shoulder and into the trash bin behind him. "But either we're not that lucky, or Amity Park is seriously lacking in talent."

"Or both."

"Or both." Tucker nodded, leaning back slightly in his chair.

Sam sighed, pulling herself up from the couch, looking over at the clock on his bedside table. "It's getting late, Tuck, and if I'm not home by nine, my parents are going to freak out. And you know how they are when they get like that." The raven-haired girl frowned.

"Yeah, I know. See you at school?" He asked. Today was a Sunday, which meant they would be going back to school. They were both seniors, finishing up their final year in high school.

"Yeah. See you in school."

(-LINE BREAK-)

Mr. Lancer stood in front of his classroom, watching a few stray students drift in after the bell. On any other day, he might assign them detention and lock them out, but today, he would forgive them, for he wanted them all in class at the moment. Today, he was going to introduce a new student, which was quite unusual, seeing as they were already six weeks into instruction. In all honesty, he had a few concerns about the student they had recently accepted into Casper High... but he would wait to see if those concerns were well-founded before he made any judgement.

"Class." The overweight teacher cleared his throat. "We have a transfer student arriving today, and he'll be joining us for the rest of our school year." Well, transfer student was putting it lightly-rather, this student had been expelled from his previous school, for a rather nasty fight that had occurred on the campus. It was one of the reasons the teacher had some misgivings about this student.

The other was the fact that he hadn't even arrived yet.

"However... He doesn't seem to be quite inclined to join us yet." The teacher finished, looking around the room to largely disappointed or disinterested looks. He had a rather diverse student body-from the cheerleader, Paulina Sanchez, to the Goth, Samantha Manson, and the football hero, Dash Baxter, to the techno geek, Tucker Foley, he had just about one of every kind of student in his class. And now he was apparently adding delinquent to that list.

The balding man mentally chided himself then, reminding himself that he would have to meet this student before passing any judgement. Really, it was a miracle that he was accepted into Casper in the first place though. And most likely, the student would have not been if his parents hadn't come in to speak with Principal Ishiyama personally. Apparently, something about a condition.

"Late, aren't I?"

Mr. Lancer's attention was drawn from his thoughts at the arrival of the student, and he nearly had to do a double take. He wasn't sure what he expected to look like... but white hair on a teenager was hardly something one saw, even more so that this particular teen had his hair held in a rather long braid. He looked over the teacher with disinterested green eyes, the two orbs nearly blazing, and strangely dead looking, shadowed by what looked to be heavy black eye makeup.

The older man couldn't help but frown as he looked over his clothing. A black fishnet top that started so low that it fully exposed his shoulders covered a black tank top. He wore a pair of black bondage pants, the belts that latched the two sides of his pants together not seeming to impede his movements at all. He wore fingerless black gloves, with a pair of belted black punk bracelets, and a pair of black combat boots. It looked as if Miss Manson would no longer be the only Goth in the class...

The Goth girl, as it were, had looked up now, interested for once in the new student, her eyes taking in the whole of him. Quietly, she leaned over to Tucker, nudging him and whispering, "Tucker... hey look."

The techno geek peered up from his PDA game once more, cocking an eyebrow at the new student. Normally he didn't pay attention to them unless they were the attractive female variety, but even he had to admit that this one definitely deserved some attention. He whispered to Sam. "Looks like you're not the only Goth it Casper anymore."

"I never was, shush." Sam lightly chided her friend, though she continued to look at the new student. He certainly was interesting looking. She wondered exactly how he had gotten his hair to that pure white color-she hadn't known that one could bleach enough so that it could get to that color. She had certainly never seen it before-it was even whiter than her grandmother's hair.

"Yes, thank you for joining us Mr. Fenton, as late as you are." Mr. Lancer frowned. "Might I inquire as to why you were late?"

"You might, but you won't get an answer, if that's what you want." The white-haired teen replied rather bluntly.

Mr. Lancer gave the teen a disapproving frown. So far all of his suspicions were turning out to be rather well-founded. "There's an empty seat behind Miss Manson, I suggest you take it so that we may begin with our class." The balding teacher motioned to the seat behind Sam.

The raven-haired girl blinked and looked behind her, then back up at the two. She had forgotten that she sat in front of the only empty seat in the classroom. She kept her eyes fixed on the white-haired boy as he wordlessly took his seat behind her. She turned around a bit, whispering. "Um... hi. I'm Sam Manson."

"Danny Fenton." The teen said rather boredly, leaning back in his seat, his head against the wall, closing his eyes. It was obvious that he didn't want to speak, so Sam merely gave a slight frown and turned back around.

Tucker eyed her from his seat, and she sent him a dirty look. The African-American teen merely grinned, looking away from his friend, resuming the game that he was playing on his PDA. No doubt that Sam would attempt to learn a few things about this white-haired teen, Danny Fenton, he had said he was. Sam was always interested in interesting things and people, and this was sure to be no exception.

Class continued on then, the thing that was different from the normal routine were the occasional glances the students in front of them sent back to the white-haired teenager in the back. Sam found herself glancing over her shoulder from time to time, curious about what he was doing, and found that he appeared to have fallen asleep.

Class was halfway over before they were interrupted, a petite woman with firey red hair and aqua eyes stepping into the classroom with an apologetic look. She whispered something to Mr. Lancer, who nodded, and the red-head made her way over to the new student, nudging him lightly on the shoulder.

Danny's bright green eyes snapped open and he jolted upright, seemingly relaxing upon seeing the woman in front of him. She whispered something to him, and Sam, who was closest to him could catch a few words of it-namely the words _meeting_, and _condition_. The raven-haired girl found her eyebrow arching in interest as the white-haired boy frowned, but got up without a word and left with the girl.

"Strange..." She found herself mumbling, watching them leave. Very strange indeed.

(-LINE BREAK-)

The school day flew past, and Sam saw that Danny seemed to be in none of her other classes. Or at least, she thought he wasn't-after that woman had come to get him, she hadn't seen him in the building again. She wondered if perhaps he was still in a meeting, or he had skipped school. Not that Sam could entirely condemn him if the latter was the case-she had done it quite a few times herself.

Her suspicions were confirmed by Mr. Lancer later that afternoon.

The bald teacher approached her, a stack of papers in his hands, and a deep frown on his face. "Miss Manson, I would hate to be a burden on you, but could you do me a favor?"

Sam blinked. "Well, I guess that would depend on the favor. What do you want me to do?"

Mr. Lancer heaved a sigh and pulled out a scrap of paper with an address scribbled on it. Sam realized the street name as being one near where she lived. "I want you to take these papers to this address, and give them to the Fentons." The teacher sighed again. "I'd do it myself, but we're having a faculty meeting tonight, and as vice principal I can hardly afford to miss it."

"The Fentons..." Sam blinked, trying to think of why the name sounded familiar. She was sure that she had never heard it before-ah! No, she had, but only just today. Danny _Fenton, _he had said his name was. Mr. Lancer must have been referring to his parents. "Oh, you mean, for the new student?"

"Yes. It seemed that something was said during a meeting between Principal Ishiyama and his parents..." The older man sighed, rubbing his forehead, recalling the Asain woman's rather detailed account of the violent outburst that the white-haired student had had. Not even a full day in school, and it seemed that he already wanted to cause problems. "...and he didn't take it very well. He stormed out."

"I see..." Sam mumbled, half to herself, and half to the teacher. She got from his expression and overall body language that there was a bit more to this tale than just an outburst, but it wasn't her place to pry. She quietly took the papers from Mr. Lancer with a smile. "I'll drop these off by his house on my way home."

"Thank you, Miss Manson. I really am grateful for this." Mr. Lancer gratefully relinquished his burden to her.

Sam cast a smile at him and mummered a goodbye, before she left, carefully holding the papers so that she didn't drop any. It was a good sized stack, and she guessed the majority of it was review material.

She made her way out of the school building. Normally she would have walked home with Tucker, but the techno lover was currently busy at his part time job. Sam thought it was amazing that he had actually gotten one, much less kept it for the past five months. Then again, if she was the manager of that Internet cafe, she wouldn't be too keen on letting him go either-if there was one thing Tucker could do, it was handle technical problems.

She walked at a fairly good pace, making sure to pause at every street corner to check the names of the streets she was walking down. She had gotten so used to walking home now, that she didn't even need to look at them to know where she was going. She knew by sight the route she was supposed to take, and could probably walk it blindfolded if it was ever necessary.

For all her careful checking of street names, she almost walked straight past the street the Fenton's home was located on. Cursing mildly under her breath, she turned around and headed back down the street, balancing the papers on one arm as she tugged the address for the house out of the pocket of her black cargo pants. She kept a close eye out for the house, making sure not to almost miss it like she had almost missed the street.

And found that she wouldn't have been able to miss this house if she tried.

"_There?_" She found herself staring at the house, with her mouth hanging wide open. She almost laughed, out of both surprise and the realization of something else-no _wonder _Fenton sounded like she had heard it from more than just Danny's introduction of himself!

The Fentons were ghost-hunters. That's not normally something you would think someone would devote their entire lives too, but indeed they had. There was even a giant neon sign outside of their house reading 'FENTON WORKS' as well as a generally strange looking metallic structure on their roof.

"Well," Sam began, grinning to herself. "This should be quite interesting." Once again, she shifted the weight of the papers in her hand, ringing the doorbell. Hearing the clamor that the sound aroused inside, her grin only grew wider. "_Very _interesting."

(-LINE BREAK-)

If you're curious about my other three stories, see the DA journal entires about them! And please, leave feedback! I really, really appreciate that if you would. It means a lot to me. (Take out the spaces in the links, btw)

Raison D'Etre - bekuki. / journal/ 9979332 /

Moonlit Bane- bekuki. deviantart. com / journal / 9808263 /

Devil Child- bekuki. deviantart. com / journal / 9694508 /


	2. A Curious Green

**AN: **Chapter Two! (Spins around) Today, class, we get to learn just a little more about this Danny Isn't that fun? (runs into a brick wall out of the dizziness from spinning).

Now, one of the main differences between this story, and the original one, is that Sam and Tucker have never before met Danny. They've heard of him, but they've never actually met him. For that matter, outside of his family, Danny's met none of the other characters from the show. Another difference is in the fact that the band is just staring up here, while in the RP with ChibiSamiSala, it's already up, running, and quite popular. But I wanted to go for different approach with this story.

And now I'm tired. I should sleep. But before I go, Danny Phantom still belongs to Butch Hartman, and I'm still not making money off of this. Just a happy-dappy squishy organ-implody feeling from when you guys leave me prettieful reviews.

* * *

Two of a Kind

Chapter Two: A Curious Green

"Ghost!"

That was the first word that Sam heard from behind the door clearly. Frankly, it would have been impossible for her not to, given the volume it was hollered at. She also heard a much quieter voice calming the louder one, though she couldn't hear the words that the woman spoke.

_That must be Jack and Maddie Fenton._ She thought to herself. The couple was well-known in the air, though not in an entirely good way. They had moved to Amity Park about four years ago, she knew because ever since then, her parents had been keeping a close eye on them. Apparently, according to her parents, the only normal one in their family was their oldest child, a daughter named Jazzmine.

Now she cursed herself for not putting two and two together earlier. Danny _Fenton. _Why hadn't she seen that? She had probably been so surprised by how he appeared that she hadn't thought about what she already knew about the boy who owned the name.

Danny Fenton. Out of all of the members of the Fenton family, it was him that her parents dislike the most. They didn't trust him, not in the least. They disliked everything about him- from his white hair (bleached they assumed), to his unique green eyes (either colored contacts, or a mutation resulting from exposure to the strange chemicals in the Fenton's lab) to his overall rather delinquent attitude.

And honestly, he had always interested her. She was glad now that she finally had a chance to meet him herself.

The door opened a few moments after the woman's voice had silenced that of the loud man's, a woman in an aqua Hazmat standing there, her red hair cropped just under her ears. She had a welcoming smile on her face. "Hello." She took a look at the stack of paper's in the Goth girl's hands, before she looked back up, opening the door. "I see that you must be from Danny's school. Come in."

Sam smiled at the woman, coming into the Fenton household, casting a brief look around. On the couch sat a rather large man in a bright orange Hazmat, looking like he had just sat back down to tinker with an invention. He looked up at her and waved, before going back to the device in his hands. Sam waved back, before slowly turning back to the woman, looking at her.

This must be Maddie Fenton. She was clearly the brains of the ghost-hunting couple, as well as most of the efficient brawn. Her husband, Jack Fenton, came up with the plans for most of their inventions, and if he couldn't use them as well as his wife could, he certainly knew how to build them better. He wasn't exactly unintelligent... just a bit obsessive.

"I'm Sam Manson." She introduced herself, balancing the papers on one arm again as she offered her hand to the ghost huntress. "Mr. Lancer sent me to give these to Danny... though I think you probably already know that much."

Maddie took it, shaking it with a smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sam." She lowered her hand and looked up the stairs. "If you want to give them to Danny, he's up in his room." She laughed as she saw the quizzical expression come across Sam's face. "Ah, well, I think it would be nice for him to have just a bit more interaction with people outside of his family. He's become awfully anti-social lately." She said with a sigh.

Sam nodded, unsure of what to say to that. That was something else she had heard-Danny Fenton just didn't talk to other people, and when he did, what he had to say made you wish that he hadn't opened his mouth at all.

"This way." The woman smiled, leading her up the stairs. Sam frowned, looking around curiously as they passed all of the rooms on the second floor. Where was she leading her, then if not into one of those rooms? She soon got her answer, as the ghost huntress stopped and reached up, standing on her toes and pulling down the latch the attic, stepping aside as stairs came down. "Up there."

Sam nodded, balancing the papers in one arm as she carefully made her way up the attic stairs, holding tightly to the railing. Stairs like these always made her feel nervous, especially from they way they groaned under her weight. It made her feel like they would snap at any time.

She let out a slight sigh of relief as she made it up the stairs, finding herself able to stand up straight in the attic room. "Um..." She began, spotting the white-haired teen stretched out on his bed, reading a book. He lowered it slightly as she came in, arching one snow white eyebrow.

"You?" He asked, putting the book down and looking at Sam with mild interest. "You're the same girl who sits in front of me in English class. What are you doing here?"

His voice was lacking any sort of emotion, which made Sam just a little nervous. And yet, at the same time, it also peeked her interest. She swallowed once, hefting the stack of papers in her hand, a shy smile on her face. "Um, Mr. Lancer asked me to bring these to you..." She said, her voice quieter than usual as she slowly walked over to where he sat, casting an eye over his choice of decor.

A room in the attic was curious enough, though not entirely an unappealing idea. It was sparsely furnished, the only light source in the room being two small windows, and a black lamp, a shade made out of old lace covering it. It was set on a nightstand, entirely made out of what appeared to be a lightweight metal. His bed was old, with a wrought iron headboard, opting for elaborate loops and swirls as opposed to a standard flat back. It was covered with black sheets, which looked like it had been patched up here and there by fragments of black lace.

She had to admit, she liked his taste.

He watched her approach, his unusual green eyes tracking her movements, almost predator-like. He got up from the bed as she came close, taking the papers from her as she handed them to him. He ignored her completely, briefly flipping through the papers with an annoyed frown.

Sam bit her lip, uncertain to whether or not he expected her to leave. She tilted her head a bit, glancing down at the book he had been reading, a delighted smile coming over her face as she saw what it was. "Koji Suzuki's Ring?" She asked, looking back at him.

"Hm?" He frowned, then glanced back down at the book lying on his bed. "Oh. Yeah. You've read it?" He asked, his tone still rather bored. He placed the stack of papers on the bedside table carelessly, a few of them fluttering down on to the floor. He made no move to pick them up.

"Yes, I have." Sam nodded, her smile fading slightly at his rather uninterested response. Maybe getting to know him wouldn't be as easy as she had hoped. But that was allright, if anything, it would only make the reward all that sweeter.

"Good for you." Without even so much as a glance at her, he flopped back on his bed, picking up the book and finding where he had been before she had interrupted him. A minute passed, as Sam stood there, looking at him silently, wondering if she should leave or not.

He answered her quickly though, groaning and glancing at her, one blazing green eye looking on at her in annoyance. Now that she had a closer look at them, she found them to be rather unnerving. She had assumed, like others, that they were merely a unique kind of colored contacts, but the longer she looked at them, the more they seemed strangely natural... if not inhuman.

"Are you still here?" He asked, irritation clear in his voice. The first emotion she had heard in it, and it wasn't a good omen... she winced internally. This was going to be _a lot _more complicated than she had originally thought it to be.

"Um... sorry." Sam said, the slight offense she took at being spoken to like that was obvious in her tone. However, it didn't seem to bother Danny, whose gaze slide back to his book, clearly expecting the girl to leave now.

Sam frowned, turning around, only to pause with a slight start, a pleased grin breaking across her face again. Maybe there was some way she could get close to him after all... She thought, as her eyes looked over the electric guitar on the opposite corner of the attic, tucked neatly into a corner. Ignoring the fact that he clearly didn't want her to be here, she turned back around.

Seeing that she had decided to stay, the white-haired teen groaned, dog earring one of the pages of the book and putting it on the bed, and glaring at her, his eyes almost flashing in annoyance. Sam started at that, her heart almost skipping a few beats. Holy- now _that _was _not _normal.

She clenched her fist, quickly rebuilding her resolve. As odd as that was, it only still added to her curiosity about this boy. "You play guitar?" She asked, motioning towards the instrument in the back.

Danny arched an eyebrow at her. "Yes. Jazz said I needed some sort of hobby."

"Are you any good?" Sam asked, suddenly feeling incredibly nervous. "I mean, um... because me and my friend Tucker, you know, the African-American kid who sits next to me in English class? Well, we're trying to start a band, only... we don't have a guitarist yet..."

To Sam's surprise, the white-haired boy laughed, though it wasn't necessarily a pleasant one. It was short, and quick, and she soon found that he had stood up, his strange, unnerving green eyes locked with her violet ones.

"Listen, Sam, is it?" He watched her give a small nod, before crossing his arms in front of him, arching an eyebrow. "I don't know why you feel it's necessary to keep on trying to talk to me, but I'm just going to tell it to you point blank." He tilted his head slightly, so that the bangs covering his left eye fell away a bit. "But I'm not interested in making friends with anyone at your stupid school. Or anyone at all, period." His voice was cold now, his eyes changing to match.

Sam's eyes narrowed then. Damn, but she was _sick _of this guy's attitude. All she was trying to do was be friendly with him, and he was taking all of her attempts, and cramming them back down her throat. Well, if he thought that would get her to back down, then he had another thing coming.

"Well, why don't you listen to me?" She yelled back at him, her violet eyes staring straight into his. "All I'm trying to do is be friendly with you! What the hell do you find so wrong about that! Why do you feel the need to keep on shoving my attempts back at me?"

"Because I don't like people." He answered simply, unaffected by Sam's outburst. He said nothing else then, only looking at her expectantly.

Sam glared him down for awhile longer, before she tore her gaze away from him, mumbling under her breath and heading back down the attic stairs, practically running into the same red-haired woman that had come into her English classroom earlier. She let out a surprised yelp, managing to avoid the collision by stepping quickly out of Sam's way.

"Oh!" Sam turned, her look of anger vanishing, being replaced by an apologetic one. Above them, she heard the stairs to the attic close.

The red-haired woman shook her head, a smile appearing on her face. "No, it's allright. You came from Danny's school, right? I saw you there."

Sam nodded briefly, and the red-haired woman looked up towards the attic, a somewhat sad smile on her face, shaking her head briefly before she looked back at the younger girl. This must be Jazzmine Fenton, Sam found herself thinking. She was the oldest child of the Fentons, in her early twenties. She was the only one here parents approved of.

"I'm sorry about my little brother..." She said apologetically. "He..." She heaved a sigh, and Jazz could tell from the somewhat worn expression on her face that she was used to doing this. "Well, Danny's got a condition."

"A condition?" Sam asked curiously, her memory flashing back to earlier in the day, recalling the word as being one of the two she had caught from this girl's quick conversation with Danny when she had come to get him from her classroom.

"What kind of condition...?" Sam ventured, her voice quieter. Despite the fact that it was really none of her business, she couldn't deny her overwhelming curiosity.

Jazz cast another look towards the attic, a sad look crossing over her face as she did so. She slowly looked back at the girl, who was certain now that she had asked a question that she shouldn't have, and was getting ready to apologize. The red-head saw this, and cut her off, smiling still. "Don't apologize. From what I heard up there, you're really just trying to get to know him."

Sam nodded. "I wanted to see if I could get him to join a band I'm trying to start..." She answered, rubbing the back of her neck, now slightly embarrassed about it. "We held open tryouts, but nobody really impressive came to them."

"Ah." Jazz smiled. "I'll talk to him about it. Danny really does need a hobby." She caught her curious look. "He either spends his time locked up in his room, or out who knows where." She sighed. "It honestly makes me worry about him. Sometimes I think that he might be... oh." A faint blush appeared on her checks, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I was rambling. You wanted to know about his condition?"

Sam could only nod, finding herself tongue-tied. It was clear to her that he was causing something of a strain on his family, and it almost made her angry at him-but she didn't want to jump to conclusions, like that. That was something her parents would do, and if there was anything Sam was not, it was her parents.

Jazz sighed, motioning for the girl to follow her as she headed down the stairs. Sam paused, glancing once more back up at the attic, before she hurried to catch up with Jazz. She followed behind her as she lead her in silence down to their basement, stopping and standing in front of a swirling green vortex of energy that seemed to be affixed into the wall.

Sam blinked, walking over towards it, getting as close as she dared to. Judging for the way that Jazz didn't get too close to it, she got the idea that it would more than likely be a bad idea for her to try and get close to it. "What is it?" She asked, turning back towards Jazz, wondering exactly what it had to do with her younger brother's condition. She glanced back at it, noting with a slight start now that the energy was the exact color of Danny's eyes.

"The Ghost Portal. My parents built it a long time ago, back when I was just six." She placed a hand on the rim of it, a look of painful nostalgia appearing on her face. Despite the fact that she was so young then, she hadn't forgotten anything about that day. It was permanently etched into her memory. "Danny was four when he got into an accident with it. Mom and dad brought us down here to watch them turn it on..." She shook her head, remembering.

"It didn't work, and so mom and dad went back to their plans to check what was wrong. I should have been watching Danny at the time but..." She heaved a sigh. "I was six, and foolish. Nobody noticed that he had wandered inside, until my parents managed to turn it on." The sound of the screaming was still fresh in her head as it had been on that day. It was never something one could forget, no matter how much she wanted too.

She paused in her explanation, waiting for the remembered sound to fade away, before she opened her eyes and looked towards the back wall of the lab. "It shot him all the way out, and he smashed his head against it badly. It..." She hovered over the word, an odd look appearing on her face. Sam made a note of it, but said nothing, waiting for her to continue. "...bleed. A lot. He was very lucky that he didn't die."

"His hair and eyes... it's a result of the exposure to ectoplasmic radiation. His hair used to be black, and his eyes blue..." She trailed off there, before shaking her head and getting back on track.

"The accident left him somewhat brain-damaged..." She let out a long sigh. "Danny... he has trouble expressing certain emotions." She looked at Sam. "And most of them are the ones that would enable him to interact normally with people." That sad smile appeared on her face again. "He tried really hard to compensate for that when he was growing up, but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't find anything that could really help him. Eventually he just started to give up all-together..."

Sam nodded slowly, taking in the explanation that was given to her. It was a lot to take in at once, but it made sense. "I'm sorry to hear that..."

"Don't be." Jazz smiled at her, walking over to her and patting her lightly on the shoulder. "Just... know that he doesn't really mean to be the way he is." She looked up, staring in the general direction of her brother's room. "I know that he hasn't really given up. Even if it seems like it sometimes."

Sam nodded, opening her mouth to speak, before the familiar sound of her cell phone ringtone was heard. Mumbling under her breath in annoyance, she flipped open the cell phone. "Hello?" She sighed as she heard the voice on the other line. It was her mother, wondering why she wasn't home yet. "I'm fine mom, Mr. Lancer just asked me to drop off some papers for a student that was absent today. Yes, that's all. What the-? No, of course I'm not on drugs! What does that have to do with _anything_?"

Jazz arched an eyebrow, watching the raven-haired girl curiously as she argued over the phone with her mother. She had to admit, she was curious about this girl. As much as she hated to admit it, she was the first person that Danny had actually had a conversation with, however brief and hostile that it was, in quite some time. Maybe she could provide some help where she could not...

The girl hung up, tucking her cell phone away, grumbling. "I have to hurry home." She reported to the older girl. "...could you make sure to follow up with Danny on the offer?"

Jazz blinked. "You still want him?"

Sam shrugged. "He's interesting." She smiled at Jazz, before saying goodbye and hurrying out of the basement.

Jazz watched her go, the smile on her face growing.

Yes... this one was definitely something special.


	3. Hope a Little

**AN: **(strikes a pose!) Chapter Three! This one is a bit shorter than some of my other chapters, at only five pages, but I didn't want to cram a whole bunch of unnecessary stuff into this chapter. I like the way this turned out however, a lot. Especially towards the ending. Pay close attention to it, for it's going to start playing a major role once Daniel appears in the story.

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman. I am not making any money off of this. And I can't think of anything funny to say for this disclaimer. Damn.

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Two of a Kind

Chapter Three: Hope a Little

"Danny?" Red-haired Jazz Fenton knocked on the top of one of the attic stairs, shifting her weight uncomfortably on the rickety steps up to it. "Can I talk to you?"

A slight groan answered her, as she came up a few more steps until she was in the attic. Her brother put down his book once more, muttering something underneath his breath-doubtlessly complaining about how today seemed to hold nothing more than interruptions. "You're in here anyways, so you might as well." He said, his strange green eyes falling upon her.

Jazz took a moment to simply look at his eyes, trying to put herself for once in the perspective of someone who had never met Danny before. She had long grown used to his bizarre, dimly glowing eyes, but when she looked at them that way... they looked positively inhuman, and rather frightening. It wasn't any wonder then, why most people wouldn't even come near him unless they had to.

She pushed those thoughts aside, smiling at her little brother. Despite everything, she couldn't help but love him, even if she knew that she might never get that love in return. It wasn't that Danny didn't love her, she knew that he did, very much so. She knew he appreciated everything that she and her parents had been doing for him over the years, and she knew that he was still capable of feeling it.

It was just that he no longer had any idea of how to display it, or how to show it. It had been one of the first things the other Fentons had noticed about him after the accident, besides the rather obvious change in hair and eye color. They had noticed this change almost right away, but they had all shoved it to the back of their minds. Then, they didn't want to admit that something else had happened to him. They desperately wanted him to be the same as he had been before the accident, and so to did Danny.

And so the young boy struggled with himself to try and pretend that he was the same, forcing up the ghosts of his lost or blunted emotions, trying to use them to replace what he had lost. It was a fairly good job, too, it could have fooled anyone that wasn't looking closely, or didn't know him all that well.

But the Fentons could tell. They all noticed it, even her father, and he was normally the last to notice anything.

They saw that they were fake. They could see past the illusions-they could see past him trying to be happy, trying to please them and trying to be normal. They saw how hard he was trying, and so they had continued to play along with it, trying to pretend that they had never noticed anything wrong. In truth, they did it because they too, wished that nothing was wrong. Nobody wanted to admit it. Nobody wanted to come out and say that their son, their brother, had lost something.

Nobody wanted to say that he wasn't normal.

They went on like that for about two years. There were so many times now that Jazz wished she could take those two years back, that she could have made herself, made her parents act on their son's problem sooner. Maybe if they had... maybe there might have been a way to save him.

But maybe there might not have been. They would never know.

Two years. Danny was six, she was eight. Two years went by, before everyone was forced to pay attention. Two years went by, and Danny entered kindergarten.

White hair, green eyes. It was inevitable that he would be picked on. One student in particular, a red-haired boy that Jazz couldn't recall the name of, took it too far, trying to make the strange little boy break down and cry. No matter what anyone did to him, or said to him, Danny simply wouldn't cry.

The teacher was impressed. The Fentons knew something was wrong.

The bully took it too far, anyone could see that. Taking scissors to someone's hair just because you didn't like it was wrong, and there was no excuse for it. But there was likewise no excuse for how Danny acted on it.

The bully had expected to finally break him, to finally make him cry. And he broke him well enough, but he didn't make Danny cry. Instead, he did the exact opposite.

He pissed him off.

Usually, that phrase was reserved for those older, but there was no other way to describe what it did to her white-haired brother. It made him snap, it pissed him off. The fact that any six-year old was capable of breaking someone's jaw was enough to give a wake-up call to anyone.

And the Fentons were finally forced to come to terms with the fact that Danny had a problem. Jazz couldn't decide whose awakening was worse-hers, her parents, or her brothers. The entire aftermath had been horrible. Danny wouldn't speak to anyone for an entire month afterwards. He was terrified.

It marked the first time the Fentons had moved. They must have moved a total of five times since then. No matter how hard he tried, something always happened, and Danny always lost his temper, which only got worse as the years went by, and his strength increased.

The last time, he almost killed someone.

But he had transferred to a new school now, and it was as close to a new beginning they could get for him. Plus,the fact that there was someone like Sam here gave Jazz some hope.

And that was why she wanted Danny to stop being so anti-social, and give her a chance.

She smiled at her younger brother as she took a seat on his bed, the white-haired teen swinging his legs off the bed to give her room to sit on. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About that girl?" He asked, one of his white eyebrows arching as he tilted his head to the side.

"Yes." Jazz sighed, reaching over and taking her brother's hand. She shivered slightly at the contact-another thing that was unusual about her brother was how he always seemed to be so _cold_, even during the heat of summer.

"Danny, I know that... you've been through a lot, especially lately... but..." She squeezed his hand, closing her eyes. "But, that doesn't mean you should just give up. You had a couple of bad experiences, and you just decide to close yourself off to the world." Her eyes opened and met with the green ones of her brother. "I don't want you to do that."

Danny stared at her for a few moments, before he let go of her hand, his eyes narrowing. "And why not? I've done like you and mom and dad have wanted me to do, and it's always ended badly."

"But it wasn't just us who wanted it!" Jazz protested. "Danny, you wanted it too." She took his hand again, clutching it tightly. "I know I can't ever possibly hope to understand what you're going through Danny, and I'm not going to try and pretend that I can. But you shouldn't just give up. We've all tried so hard to make things better..."

"...and they only got worse." He finished for her, wrenching his hand free from her grasp once more and getting up, strolling over to the other side of the attic. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and spoke without looking back at his sister. "You've seen it, haven't you? Everytime I snap, it gets worse." His shoulders slumped, and he heaved a sigh. "Last time I almost killed someone. If it happens again, I don't think I'll be able to be restrained."

A long time ago, Jazz might have gotten a glimmer of hope from the guilt and regret her brother was feeling, but she had long since learned otherwise. They weren't real... not really. Two years of Danny pretending to be whole had gone by, and the fake emotions had become a part of him. They appeared whenever he thought they should be there, they acted like real emotions, but... there was something hollow about them. Like all he was doing was acting, and he was.

She would never say it aloud, but it was always painful for her to watch. Some subconscious part of her did start to hope, and her more logical brain had to shove that feeling down, ripping it to shreds before it ever had a chance to blossom.

"Danny..." She began, getting off the bed, and walking slowly over to him. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, and the white-haired boy turned his head to look at her. "Danny, listen to me. That was a year ago. Since then..." She gripped his shoulder tighter, pain going through her face. "Danny, I just hate seeing you this way. You never even try to smile anymore..." He voice broke, and she looked away from him, not wanting to see her expression.

What right did she have to cry if he couldn't? But she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. She had kept them at bay for the entire year, kept them at bay even when her parents announced what her brother had done, even when they had announced the possibility that he might have to be taken away from them. The parents of the boy had wanted to throw Danny into an asylum, or preferably a prison. It had taken their parents so long for them to convince the parents and the authorities that Danny wasn't a threat, and that neither of those punishments were necessary.

Eventually, Danny had been placed under house arrest for the year, and had been expelled from the last private school in the city. Normally, the Fentons would have moved long ago... but Danny had told them himself that he didn't want them to do it anymore. He hated the fact that everytime he screwed up, and did something stupid, the family felt the need to uproot itself. And so he had told them no more. The move to Amity Park would be their last.

And now Jazz had to admit... she was glad he had decided that they would stay.

A faint echo of guilt went through the white-haired boy, gazing down at his sister's face, which was obscured by her mass of firey red hair. He reached up and took hold of his sister's hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly, causing the teary-eyed girl to look up. He had done it again... He always ended up making her cry. He didn't want to, but could he really even keep himself from doing it?

In the end, he couldn't. He knew that he caused his family a lot of suffering because of how he was, and all he could manage to muster up from it was just an echo of guilt, and echo of regret. They were fake, just as almost everything else was.

"Jazz." He reached out with his other hand to prop her chin up, for she had looked away again, and ran a hand over her tear-stained eyes, brushing them away. "Come on, don't cry." He tried to sound reassuring, but failed miserably, his vocal tone hardly shifting from the rather monotone one he normally had.

"I'm sorry..." Jazz whispered, apologizing. "I shouldn't be so upset. I should..." She sighed, dropping her eyes. "Oh God, Danny, but it just isn't _fair_."

"I know." He let go of her chin, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It isn't."

Silence fell over the room again, as Jazz recollected herself, brushing away a few more tears that had made their way out. She took in and let out a few deep breaths, closing her eyes. After her last one, she opened them and looked over at her brother, staying silent for a few moments more before she decided on what to say next. "Danny..." she began.

"You came up here to convince me to give that girl a chance, didn't you?" He asked, giving her a half-smile.

Once again, the fake hope sprung up in the woman, and once again, she shoved it down. It looked so real... but it wasn't. "Yes." She nodded. "I don't want to force you into to doing anything you don't want too, but..."

"But you think that there's something different about this one?" Danny finished for her. He closed his eyes, a slight chuckle escaping from her lips. "You're right." He cracked open an eye. "For once."

Jazz's tensed shoulders relaxed at his words, and a smile forced itself from her lips. "So, you'll give it a shot? What she was asking from you..."

"Better that than staying in this house all day anyways." He shrugged.

The smile grew, and a look of relief washed over her face again. The faint seed of hope appeared in her again, and this time, she didn't shove it aside. If he was trying again... It was good. She wrapped her arms around her younger brother, giving him a tight squeeze before looking up at him. "Danny..."

"Hm?" He looked down at her.

"...Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not giving up hope after all." She smiled, before giving him another squeeze. "Mom says dinners, going to be ready in a few minutes, so don't skip it again." She let him go, patting his shoulder. "Okay?" Her brother nodded, and she smiled once more at him, heading down the attic stairs.

Danny watched her go, the fake smile vanishing from his face. "Hope... huh..." He looked at the firey red-head now gone from the attic steps, his strange green eyes washing over her, almost as if they were peering straight through her. His eyes affixed on the glow inside her body, brighter now than it was just minutes before when she had come upstairs.

His eyes trailed downwards, looking at his own hand, his eyes scanning it the same way. A bitter chuckle escaped from his lips, and he closed his eyes, balling his fist. Nothing. There was always nothing. "...I don't even remember what that is."

He opened his eyes again, his sister now gone from sight. "It really isn't fair, is it?"


	4. Audition

**AN: **Chapter Four! Hmmm, this chapter... there are some things about it that really annoy me, but for the life of me, I don't think that I can do anything better. (Sighs) Just a little bit of writer's block, it seems. Sucks beyond all measure, it does. But I wanted to get this out, because I wanted to introduce Daniel, however briefly! Since quite a few people have been waiting for his arrival. Well, actually this is more of a teaser of his arrival, but still.

I gots some arts for you all! PhoenixStarr strikes again with this beautiful piece of Danny fanart, based off of a scene from Chapter One- www. deviantart. com / deviation / 41201355 /

www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 40693278/ (In case you were wondering what Daniel looked like)

www. deviantart. com / deviation / 40339281 / (Just try and tell me that this Danny isn't smexy.)

And you guys know the drill by now, right? Danny Phantom's not mine, it's Butchie's. And also to read (no DUH) and review (reviews are the cure to writer's block). And then go organize a revolt against the government of your choice! HUZZAH!

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Two of a Kind

Chapter Four: Audition

Sam had never liked the expression, 'almost had a heart attack', ever since her grandfather had died from one. She couldn't help but be reminded of the pain she had gone through in the wake of her grandfather's death, and so she had always found the phrase to disagree with her.

But it was the only phrase she could think of when none other than Danny Fenton strolled into the room, a rather bored look on his face.

Sam Manson nearly had a heart attack. Actually, it felt more like she had a couple.

"Does the offer still stand?" He asked, his hands tucked into his pockets, one white eyebrow arched. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Sam and Tucker's jaws almost reached the floor-either that, or he really didn't care. Sam suspected that it was the latter.

"U-uh..." Sam's mouth worked dumbly for a few moments, blinking rapidly in shock. She then shook her head, regaining her composure and nodding firmly. "Yes. Of course it still stands..." She almost laughed, a soft, unexpected thing. "I didn't actually expect you to show up though."

"You're not here for another Potato Convention, are you?" Tucker, who had likewise managed to recover from his shocked state, asked, half-sarcastically, and half still in shock. Sam had told him about the offer she had made to Danny, and he had thought for sure that he would _never _show up.

Danny stared blankly at the boy, blinking a few times. "What?" He asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

He had seen this one somewhere before, hadn't he? He racked his brain for it, and recalled that he was in class with him yesterday. Danny hadn't gone to school today-after his outburst in the principal's office, he didn't quite feel like it. No doubt he'd be hearing about it once he got home, and would be forced to go tomorrow.

"Oh." Sam laughed. "There was someone who came in when we held open tryouts thinking that this was where the International Potato Convention was held. We didn't ask... because honestly, we really didn't want to know."

"Right." Putting down what he was carrying, Danny flopped back on the couch, his white braid lying against the cloth of the sofa. "So, what exactly do you want from me?"

"Well, we want to hear you play, for one thing." Sam had fully recovered from her shock by now.

"Did you carry that all the way over here yourself?" Tucker asked, eyeing Danny's equipment. He had hauled it into the room like it was no lighter than some sheets of paper.

Danny didn't answer his question, merely eyeing him briefly before he picked up the guitar. Sam and Tucker exchanged a look, a brief one of mixed curiosity and uncertainty passing between them.

Slinging the guitar over his shoulder, he leaned against the wall a bit. Sam and Tucker looked back at him, then back at each other once more when he started to play-they weren't quite sure what the song was, but whatever it was... it was good. It was _really _good.

The two teenagers continued to stare at each other, communicating with each other wordlessly as only old friends could do. It actually shocked them when they realized that the music had stopped.

"Geez. Are you two about to make out or something?" Danny said, a mock look of disgust on his face. The expression faded all too quickly, however, and Sam couldn't help but find herself thinking about his sister's earlier words.

_The accident left him somewhat brain-damaged... Danny... he has trouble... expressing certain emotions._

She shook off the memory however, and smiled at him. That wasn't really her place to interfere-and in any case, what could she do? She was definitely no psychologist. She didn't know the first thing about mental or emotional disorders, and she wasn't going to pretend that she did. For now, she would just concentrate on what she brought Danny here for, and just wait to see what happened with him later.

"No!" Tucker, not sharing Sam's knowledge of Danny's problems, blushed horribly, glaring at him.

Danny shrugged, dismissing both Tucker's outburst and the rather violent blush on his face. Sam knew that it was there because Tucker had a rather powerful crush on one Valerie Gray-and he got flustered when anyone else joked that he might like someone else, even when Valerie was nowhere to be found. He had always been a strange one, but that was why Sam found befriending him so easy. One wouldn't think the carnivorous techno geek and the ultra-recylo vegetarian Goth would have much in common, but they almost always managed to find some sort of middle ground.

Danny leaned his guitar back against the wall, looking expectantly at Sam now, one eyebrow arched. Sam looked at him dumbly for a few moments, then realized that he was waiting for her to comment. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, as she cleared her throat. "Oh! Sorry, Danny." She smiled at him, laughing. "Your playing is... very good." She laughed again, this time more in delayed awe. "Really good. Who taught you to play?"

The white-haired teen shrugged, closing his eyes. "I taught myself." He opened his eyes, staring directly into Sam's equally unusual violet eyes. "It's not like I have that much to do."

Sam half-opened her mouth to say something about that, but found that her words were locked in her throat as he half her gaze. She could swear that there was something in the look in his eyes that said he knew that she had been told about him. Was that all just in her head? Maybe Jazz had told her brother that she had talked with her... but Sam didn't peg the older woman to be the type to do that. Still... something about that look told her that he knew.

Why was that unnerving? It wasn't like it would hurt her to know. But she couldn't shake the feeling that he was silently advising her not to inform anyone else of his... uniqueness. But why did she feel that way? Perhaps it was just because of how his eyes looked... they were cold, inhuman. It was almost like there was something _missing _in him. Something essential that was missing in him, and something essential that she and everyone else had. Right now, it felt like those cold, almost glowing green eyes were staring right through her, looking at that thing...

And then the feeling vanished like it had never come, and Sam found herself puzzling at whatever had brought that on. She shut her mouth and let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. She blinked rapidly, as Danny's gaze dropped from hers, staring back off into space.

Tucker looked between the two, frowning. What the heck had just happened? Sam had just been about to say something when she had just... _froze_. That was the best word that he could think of for it. She had stopped speaking, stopped moving, even stopped breathing for a while there. He chanced a look over at Danny, who was blessedly not looking at him. There was something strange about this guy-and there was also something about him that Sam wasn't telling him. He would make sure to ask her later.

"Sam, you okay?" He asked, getting up from his seat on the couch and coming over to her. Danny's eyes trailed back from wherever it was he was looking, focusing on the two now, though his gaze wasn't nearly as intense as it had been.

Sam nodded, smiling at Tucker. "Yeah, I'm just fine. Sorry if I spooked you Tuck. I just spaced out there." She laughed at the unbelieving look on his face, knowing that she would most likely have to explain everything to him later. "I'm allright, really."

She looked back at Danny, smiling still. "And I'm sorry about that to you too, Danny. I was going to say that we'd love to have you in the band... provided, of course, you still want to. I wouldn't hold it against you if you decided not to join us."

He gave her a rather amused look-Sam felt a slight shudder run down her spine though as it appeared. She wasn't sure why, but it felt somehow _fake_. "Well." He half-laughed, hollowness hidden within the sound. "I'll admit, I wasn't entirely interested when I came here originally." He shrugged. "Just did it because Jazz told me to." He left out the rather emotional (on his sister's part at least) chat that they had prior to this, not feeling it necessary to include these two on his family's problems.

"But?" Sam chanced, looking curiously now at him, though still not fully recovered from her earlier episode.

"But..." He looked at her, his eyes just briefly meeting with hers again. "Now I'm interested."

It was true-he hadn't been interested in joining. But there was something about this girl that he found himself liking. He wasn't entirely sure why he had peered into her, but now he was pleased that he had. That warm light, present in every being he encountered... normally it pissed him off-it was something they had, and that he didn't. But for some reason... this girl's was strange, almost therapeutic. He liked it.

He wanted it.

Sam took in a deep breath as his eyes left from hers again. "I'm glad to hear that Danny. If you like, we can get started on practice right now...?" She ventured, shoving back all of her uncertainty. What was he looking at when he looked at her like that? It really was starting to get a bit disturbing.

He shook his head. "I can't, sorry. I have some things I need to attend to." He glanced over towards Tucker. "Mind if I keep this here?" He motioned towards the guitar.

"No, I guess not. Sam lives her lyrics here, so I don't really see the problem." Tucker shrugged. "It's more convenient anyways."

"Good." With another plastic-looking smile, Danny tucked his hands back into his pockets and left from the room, without even saying goodbye. Tucker and Sam both watched him leave, an uneasy silence falling between the two close friends.

"What..." Tucker broke it, taking in a deep breath and looking over at his longtime friend. "..was that?"

"Don't use what for a person, Tuck, it's rude." Sam shook her head, glancing back at the door, just to make sure that he was gone. She looked back at Tucker, and motioned for him to follow her to the couch, which she plopped down on, glad to be sitting. She stretched her legs out in front of her, knitting her fingers together and stretching them in front of her as well, the joints popping and relieving some of the tension that had built up in them.

"Right." Tucker cleared his throat, starting over. "So who exactly was that?"

"Danny Fenton." Sam said simply. "Don't you remember? Mr. Lancer introduced him to the class yesterday, and he left early." She dropped her hands, making herself more comfortable. "Remember that I told you Mr. Lancer sent me to his house to drop off some papers? And that I noticed he played, so I invited him to come try out?"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember all that." Tucker waved his hand dismissively. "I meant..." He sighed. "He's... I've never seen anyone like him before." He laughed. "He's more than a little intimidating."

"Tell me about it." Sam sighed, looking over at him sympathetically. "He has his reasons for being like that though..." She chewed on her lip, debating whether or not she should tell him. On one hand, it felt like she would be violating the trust that Jazz had given her, but on the other, she didn't want to keep anything from her oldest and best friend.

Eventually, her loyalty to Tucker won out, and she sighed. "I talked to his older sister. Or rather, she talked to me."

"What did she say?" Tucker asked, crossing his legs in front of him.

"You know how the Fenton's are ghost hunters, right?" Sam asked. Tucker nodded and opened his mouth, but Sam cut him off, predicting the question. "No, he's not possessed." Sam laughed at Tucker's disappointed face. "He did get into an accident with one of their inventions, however. It left him a bit brain damaged... according to his older sister, not all of his emotions work right."

"Seemed to be working to me." Tucker commented, remembering with annoyance the smug remark he had made earlier.

"I think he's just pretending." Sam shrugged. "At least, that's what it felt like to me. I don't know-I might just be thinking that because she told me about it. Maybe I'm over-analyzing how he was acting..." She shrugged.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have him join us?" Tucker asked worriedly. "I mean, I've never seen you spaz out like that Sam. What happened?"

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it Tucker. I think it was just that my thoughts were taking a bit longer than usual to catch up with me, is all. And they all kind of hit me in a rush." She laughed, smiling and patting him on the head. "Come on, don't worry so much about me. When have I ever done something stupid that's gotten me in trouble?"

"I can think of about sixty things, seventeen of them involving you trying to convince me to take your place in something." Tucker arched an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how long it took for me to shake off the rumor that I wanted to be a girl?"

She laughed at that, shaking her head. "Ah, Tucker. You could have just said no."

"You offered me a hundred dollars. I would have to have been crazy not to."

Sam was about to reply to that comment, but her cell phone rang, and she groaned, hearing the ring tone that she had picked out to separate her parents from everyone else who called her. "Hang on Tuck, let me see what my mom wants." She took her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. "Hello? Yes, hi mom. Yes, I'm at Tuckers-what? No! Why would you even think that!?"

Tucker arched an eyebrow, curious to what Sam's mother was accusing her of this time. The woman always seemed to call at the worst possible times. It was like she had some sort of sensor that went off that told her when to inconveniently call and bug her daughter. The techno geek stayed silent for the rest of the phone conversation, waiting for Sam to hang up.

"Ugh, I'm sorry Tuck. My mom wants me to meet her at the mall to do some clothes shopping." She grinned at him. "Apparently, she found my stage outfit, and deemed that some correctional shopping lessons were in order."

"No offense Sam, but your mom's crazy." Tucker arched an eyebrow.

"None taken. I think that as well." She grinned, pocketing her phone. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, allright?" She got up from the couch, watching her friend nod. "Bye. Have a nice rest of your day." She waved, departing from his room.

* * *

"A limo...?" Sam paused as she was walking, staring at the aforementioned long, black vehicle that was currently driving through the streets of Amity Park. "...huh..."

Despite the fact that Amity Park had a number of people in it that were rather well off, a limo driving through it was still a very unusual sight-and so it was no wonder that as one drove by, with it's tinted windows, that people stopped and looked at it in confusion. Amity Park wasn't exactly a major famous tourist destination, and there was definitely no school dances going on today. People are always curious to know who is inside the limos, but perhaps because of their rarity, the people of Amity Park were even more so.

There had been rumors circulating that Vladimir Masters, one of the richest men in America, was coming to Amity Park for a visit-apparently, he had some important business to attend to here. Most citizens, however, had discarded this rumor as a tall tale-what could Vlad Masters possibly have to do in Amity Park? The most exciting thing here was the Fenton family, and the chances that someone as sophisticated as Vlad could have anything to do with them were incredibly slim.

Now that there was a limo driving through town however, people began to believe that Vlad Masters really was here.

"Remind me why we came here again?" An annoyed voice spoke from inside the limo, as light blue eyes stared into ones just a few shades lighter than his. "What's so important about coming to Amity Park that you pulled me out of school?"

Vlad Masters looked across the limo to the boy riding him-barely a boy anymore, at the age of eighteen. His black hair was in stark contrast to the older man's graying hair. "Because, Daniel," he began, sighing, as if he had explained this a million times. "There's something important I have to do here."

"That involves me?" Daniel asked, arching an eyebrow. "Seriously dad, I love going on trips with you and everything, but during school? Money can't buy my grades you know."

"Yes, Daniel, I'm well aware of that. I've already made all of the arrangements with your teachers back in Wisconsin." The older man explained. "And I wanted you to come with me because there are some people here that I want you to meet."

Daniel frowned, tilting his head. "Who?" He asked. He didn't remember his father telling him anything about anyone that he knew living in Amity Park.

A smile crossed Vlad's face. "Why, my old college companions, Jack and Maddie Fenton."


	5. Daniel Masters

**AN: **Chapter Five! The official introduction of Daniel! My writing mojo is ON FIRE! Um, no seriously, it's on fire. Someone get some water and put the poor thing out. I liked writing this chapter, methinks. And not just because it makes everything all that much more confusing! ...Okay so, yes, that is a large part why but... oh shush. And now I can't think of anything to say. So, read and review everyone!

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman, and I'm not making any money off of this. I swear that all my mysteriously appearing fiancees have to do with Mafia activity instead.

* * *

Two of a Kind

Chapter Five: Daniel Masters

"Finally..." Sam let out a deep sigh of relief as she slumped down at the food court table, leaning back and staring at the mall's ceiling. "I thought that brutal torture would _never _be over. I don't think anything's going to was the horror of spending two hours shopping with my mother away."

She groaned, leaning forward and plopping her head on the table. Her mother had lead her to every fashionable store in the mall that she could think of. The real kicker to all this was that Sam didn't even have to really be there-her mother gave her absolutely no choice in what she was buying, which irritated her to no end. Not that she would actually wear any of them, but still... it was the principle of the thing.

After resting her head for another minute longer, she got up, stretching a bit. Her mother had gone with their butler-the poor man had been stuck holding all of the bags- to put them into their car. They had told Sam to wait for them in the food court, which could only mean that her mother wasn't quite done with her yet. She could only imagine what the red-haired woman had in store for her.

But she would have to find her first, if she wanted to get anything done. Sam thought with a grin, casting a quick eye around the food court to make sure that her mother wasn't already on her way over. Not seeing her, she quickly left through the food court entrance of the mall, grateful that her mother had parked on the other side. She left as quickly as she could, turning off her cell phone as she walked. Doubtless she would hear about this later, but... well, Sam never was one to let lectures get her down.

Without any real direction, she found herself wandering into the park. The light from the day was starting to fade, turning the setting into one of early evening. Sam silently prayed that she wouldn't walk in on another make-out session. She had once before, and the sight of it made her want to chuck up her guts for a few weeks after. She had to catch them in the heat of it, too.

She eventually let out a sigh, taking a seat on an empty park bench, stretching her legs out in front of her. She could go home... but where was the fun in that? Besides, delaying the inevitable lecture always sounded like a good thing.

Behind her there were the sounds of a crash, and a loud "_Gah!_" as someone fell out of a tree.

Sam jolted up, whipping around, coming face to face with a rather surprised looking raven-haired teenager. She blinked rapidly, and found herself staring at him, for there was something... oddly familiar about him.

The boy coughed, a sheepish blush rising on his face, blue eyes standing out in the early evening darkness. "Heh..." He gave a slight laugh, hauling himself to his feet, brushing off the sleeveless white trenchcoat that he wore. "Um, sorry about that. I was uh..." His blush only grew. "Well, I was in the tree."

"I can see that." Sam half-laughed, unable to resist the grin that forced itself onto her face. "What were you doing up there?"

"Feeding the squirrels?" He offered sheepishly, and Sam found that she had to laugh again. "Hey, don't laugh." He half pouted. "I wasn't really feeding the squirrels. I was just trying to hide from my father."

"Really?" Sam asked, grinning at the irony. She sat back down on the park bench and motioned the boy to take a seat next to her. After looking nervously around the park, and a bit nervously at her, he took it, the blush on his cheeks not disappearing quite yet. "So am I." Sam said, then laughed. "Well, actually, I'm hiding from my mother, but it's the same thing, basically. What are you hiding for?"

"He wanted to take me to some fancy dinner party tonight." The boy shrugged, fiddling absently mindly with the white ribbon that held his hair in a ponytail. "What about you? Why are you hiding from your mother?"

"Shopping." Sam said. "Or rather, her dragging me around, and buying stuff that only she thinks is cute."

The boy crinkled his nose in disgust. "Isn't that the worst?" He asked, sounding rather sympathetic. "My father does it all the time."

"Good to find someone who understands." Sam smiled. She tilted her head curiously-though she couldn't shake the familiar feeling that she got from this boy, she had no doubt that she had never met him. For that matter, she was certain she had never even seen him. "I'm Sam Manson."

"Daniel Masters." He grinned, offering her his hand.

She blinked, but took his hand, giving it a firm shake. "Daniel Masters? As in, the son of _the _Vlad Masters?" Well no wonder he seemed so familiar! Her parents held Vlad Masters like teenagers held rockstars. She must have heard about this boy from her parents at some point, and it had stuck in the back of her subconscious mind, resulting in the deja-vuish feeling that she was getting.

Now that she thought more about it, she had heard about him having a son. She thought that was peculiar for the moment, since everyone knew that Vlad Masters wasn't married, surprising for both a man of his age, wealth, and status. She quickly recalled, however, that the raven-haired boy wasn't Mr. Master's natural born son, and that he had adopted him. No one was quite certain when he had done so, he had merely appeared with Vlad when he was around the age of four.

Of course, this caused many questions to be asked, but the wealthy man had never given any answers. And so, eventually, people stopped asking their questions out loud, and kept them to themselves, pondering the man's motives in their head, as well as where the boy had originally come from.

A faint blush appeared on the boy's cheeks. "Yeah..." His eyes darted around the park nervously, most likely checking for his aforementioned father, as if just someone speaking his name could cause him to suddenly appear.

Sam found that she had to laugh at the sight. Daniel looked back at her, half-pouting. "He keeps me on a really tight rein. Doesn't like me to wander off, especially when we're in a place I'm not familiar with." He sighed. "I'm eighteen, but he still treats me like a little baby."

"Tell me about it." Sam groaned. "I know exactly how you feel. My parents still treat me like I'm in diapers too, sometimes."

The lamps alongside the pathway in the park were now slowly starting to flicker on, evening having descended upon Amity Park. Sam sighed, looking around with a frown. She knew that not showing up at where her mother wanted to meet her alone would get her in trouble, but if she missed curfew, she would most likely be grounded for the week.

She turned back to face Daniel, the frown still on her face. "It's getting late." She began with another annoyed sigh. "If I don't get home before curfew, my parents will ground me for the week. And the last thing I want to do is be trapped in my house with my parents all week." She made a face, as if the mere thought of it horrified her beyond all words.

Daniel grinned at her, laughing slightly at her expression. "I'd better get back to the hotel before my father calls the FBI or something equally eccentric to find me." He got up off the park bench, still smiling. "It was nice to meet you though Sam." He tilted his head to the side, looking at her curiously. "Do you think I could see you again?"

Sam couldn't help but grin at him. Normally she didn't make friends so quickly, but there was just something about this boy that she couldn't help but like. It was like she was attracted to him, and she didn't quite know why. "Of course. Why don't you meet me here after school tomorrow? Say, around four-ish?" She suggested.

Daniel made a wincing face at that. "Oof. Four's no good. I have to go meet some people with my father around that time. What about five?"

Sam nodded, smiling still. "Five sounds perfect."

* * *

"Danny Fenton." Came the cold voice of the eldest Fenton female, her arms crossed tightly in front of her chest, a disapproving frown on her face, her violet eyes looking carefully at her son. "I got a call from the school today. You didn't come to any of your classes."

Danny sighed. He had just gotten in the doorway, and already, his mother was on his case. At the same time that he knew it was only because she cared deeply about him, he couldn't help but be truly annoyed at her.

Of the emotions that he had left, annoyance was one of them. Predictably, these emotions usually were his strongest, and he couldn't seem to help but fall into them easily. It had caused him quite a few problems over the years, as well as being a problem to his family. But at the same time as he was conscious of the fact that he should feel like a burden... he found that he couldn't make himself care, not truly.

"That's probably because I didn't go to school at all." The green-eyed teenager eyed his mother, a slight frown on his face.

Maddie let out a deep sigh, her arms uncrossing as her anger vanished from her face, replaced by the look of a loving mother, albeit one that was in much pain. "Danny..." She looked at him, then shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "You can't just keep on doing this." She looked back at him, lowering her hand.

Her eyes met his briefly, and she had to force herself to look away. She felt guilty for having to do so, but she just couldn't look into those strange, cold eyes, and not be reminded of the ghosts that she had dedicated her life to hunting down and destroying. At least with his hair, she could lie to herself and pretended that it was simply bleached, but with his eyes, she could make up no such story.

It wasn't that she didn't love her son because of what his eyes looked like, that would have been simply ridiculous. No, it was more than that. His eyes... she couldn't help but feel any hope she had of Danny ever recovering being stripped away and torn into shreds when she looked at them. They were cold, inhuman, and unfeeling. Nothing like the bright blue eyes he had once had, so full of life as he had once been.

Sometimes she couldn't even see her son now, and her son then as the same person. It was a chilling thought, and one that she didn't like to think about.

But sometimes such thoughts were unavoidable. Everytime he came home late, everytime he simply vanished, whenever she didn't know where he was, or what he was doing. Everytime those eyes looked at her, or his face wore a mask of plastic emotions. Everytime she was reminded that the only ones that he seemed to have left were all negative.

Everytime he snapped.

It sounded cruel, but Maddie considered it a blessing that she had only seen him do so once. He was twelve at the time, the young age frightening in and of itself. But just... the amount of anger, the feelings of rage that had poured out from him was enough to truly, and honestly terrify her. And seeing as she was a woman who spent her entire life studying ghosts, had seen first hand that awesome power of poltergeists, and felt the wrath of vengeful spirits, saying that something frightened her was no understatement.

There wasn't a day that went by that she prayed that that understatement wouldn't apply to her own flesh and blood.

Danny had been twelve, in the seventh grade. He had gotten into a bit of trouble with one of his teachers, and so she had called her in to have a conference between her, the teacher, one of the school counselors, and Danny.

It wasn't Danny's fault that the conference had been called, really. The teacher felt that he was being gravely disrespectful of her, but he couldn't help himself. This was long before the Fentons had decided to clue the school administration in on Danny's unique mental condition. She wished she had, then maybe she could have avoided this particular incident.

The meeting had started out well enough, the teacher and the counselor speaking privately first with Maddie. She had explained to them what was wrong with her son, or at least, as much as she dared to. She couldn't understand parents of some mentally challenged or emotionally damaged children who seemed to blab away to anyone willing to listen about their child. Somehow she found it terribly insensitive, and she did not want to be one of those people. That was why she hadn't informed anyone of Danny's problems.

And then the counselor had decided that he wanted to talk to Danny in private. Maddie had let him, thinking nothing would come out of it. She and the teacher had left the room, letting Danny go in. She had chatted lightly with his teacher as he spoke with the counselor, content that everything was going well.

And then she heard a loud crash inside the room, and had bolted in, trying to find out what the matter was. She wished now that she hadn't.

Danny was twelve. He was twelve, and he had thrown a full grown man _halfway across the room._ She had meet his eyes then, and that was the first time that she felt them go through her like two needles, both of them boring into some part of her being, staring at it, growing more and more infuriated at the whatever it was that he saw there...

And then all of that rage simply vanished, leaving nothing. Not sadness, not fear, not regret, not pain... there was _nothing_. That look of nothing was more terrifying than the actual fit of rage itself. Looking at that face, in the aftermath of something that out of anyone else would have invoked an extremely emotional response, she couldn't help but be reminded that when it came down to it, her son was empty.

The pain of knowing that was great, and impossible to describe. It weighed on her constantly, and she could never escape it. It was why ever fake smile, every fake frown, every fake laugh was like a dagger that pierced straight through her heart.

She had been thankful at first, that the accident hadn't simply killed him. But now, looking at him, looking at those eyes, remembering that face... she couldn't help but wonder if it was really for the best. He was suffering so much... but that was the real kicker in itself.

He couldn't even express that, couldn't even really feel it.

"Danny, honey, listen to me." She looked back at him, wearing an expression of worry. She crossed the room, coming up to him and rested her hands on his shoulders, forcing herself to look into his eyes. "I know this is all so hard for you, but you have to get through at least high school. After that..." she shook her head. "Well, after that, you can do anything you want... but please Danny... Just... stick with it for now, okay?"

Danny sighed, turning his head away from his mother. He could feel his mother's grip on his shoulders tighten as she heard the sound. "Allright." He closed his eyes, taking a step back and loosing himself from his mother's grip. "I'll do it."

His mother nodded slowly, but she said nothing. She continued to watch her son, even as he opened his eyes again, and gave her a long look. She watched him still as he turned away wordlessly, heading up the stairs and away from her. She watched him until she couldn't see him anymore, and let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding.

Sometimes his eyes looked inhuman.

Sometimes they looked like he was pleading for help.

Today was the first time she had seen the latter in a long, long time.

* * *

"And where did you decide to wander off to, Daniel?" Across town, Daniel Masters also heard a disapproving parental voice greeting him upon his entrance to the penthouse suite he shared with his father. He, however, let out an audible groan. Of course his father still was awake. Of course.

"I was just trying to get the layout of the city." Daniel looked at his father. "I would have told you when I left, but I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Ah, yes. I was attending to some business downstairs with the hotel staff." Vlad muttered something inaudible underneath his breath, and Daniel figured that he really didn't want to hear the man's compliant. "But next time you decide to leave, do leave a note. You know I worry about you."

"I'm eighteen, father." Daniel pointed out, arching an eyebrow. "I'm hardly a baby anymore. I perfectly capable of handling myself."

"Oh, I'm more than certain that you are, Daniel." Vlad acknowledged. "It's just that Amity Park isn't exactly the safest place for you."

"If you're going to be worrying about that, then why exactly are you taking me over to the Fentons tomorrow?" Daniel asked, taking a seat on one of the plush chairs in the penthouse's living room. "Not to criticize you father, but it doesn't exactly seem like a stroke of genius to take someone with ghost powers and put them into the house of ghost hunters."

"Daniel, don't worry so much." His father said with a calm look. "I already have everything figured out. You won't have to worry about a thing. If everything goes according to plan, the Fentons will never know."

"Good..." With a slight yawn, the raven-haired boy got off of the couch. "I'm going to go to bed. I'm really tired."

Vlad smiled at his son. "Very well. Far be it for me to keep you awake."

"Good night father." Daniel grinned at him, before heading to the bedroom he was staying him.

"Good night to you as well, my son." Vlad smiled cooly. "Good night."

* * *

AN: See? I CAN do endings that aren't uber-super cliffhangerish. But man... just let me tell you, next chapter's going to be so much fun to write. (cackles evilly and skips off with all of her grand knowledge of the plot)


	6. Danny and Daniel

**AN: **And the chapter that I'm sure quite a few of you have been waiting for! Danny and Daniel finally meet... although not entirely the best of meetings. And certainly not the longest. Gosh that scene was fun to write... (giggles like a nut). The 'light' is once again mentioned in this chapter, so if you're confused about what it is exactly, don't worry, you haven't missed anything, it's just that it hasn't been fully explained yet. Don't worry, it will be. (grins) Read and review as always everyone! I loves ya.

Danny Phantom doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman, and I am not making money off of this. And I can't think of anything creative to spice up this disclaimer...

* * *

Two of a Kind

Chapter Six: Danny and Daniel

The door to Mr. Lancer's class room opened, and the class stopped to look up at the white-haired boy, arriving about an hour late to class.

"Glad to see that you decided to finally join us, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer said, his mouth in a tight frown. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd decided not to come back to school at all."

"I was only gone a day and half. Get off yourself." Danny snapped, his eyes narrowing slightly. When the teacher remained silent, he frowned, shooting him a slight glare, and took his seat. He placed his feet up on the desk and leaned back so that his head was touching the wall.

"Geez, somebody's not a morning person..." Tucker observed, arching a slight eyebrow. "He's even crankier than _you _are Sam. I didn't think it was possible."

Sam nudged the techno geek lightly on his shoulder, her friend grinning and sticking his tongue out at her. Sam rolled her eyes, fighting to resist the urge to smile, though it showed at the corner of her lips anyways. Tucker grinned back at her, before turning back to his work, scribbling away on the short essay that Mr. Lancer had assigned them at the beginning of class.

Sam glanced briefly over at Danny, wondering why it was that he didn't say hello. He did sit right next to them, after all, and would it kill him to be nice every once in awhile? Just because he had some problems didn't mean that he couldn't at least _try _and be polite. Well, she wasn't going to be rude.

"Morning Danny." Sam whispered, a slight smile on her face.

His eyes slid slowly over to her, though nothing but them moved. Sam felt an unconscious shudder run down her spine, her body remembering an echo of what he had made her feel the other day. She shoved it out of her mind, though. She must have been imagining things.

"Oh." He gave her a slight frown, his brow furrowing a bit. "Hey." He said boredly, before his eyes slid back away from her, staring blankly back up at the front of the classroom.

Sam frowned a bit. She was going to have a conversation with this guy if it was the last thing she did. "Why are you late?" She whispered to him again, unable to help but get a little annoyed at the bothered sigh that he gave her after the words left her lips.

"Are you going to keep on bugging me until you get an answer?" He asked, his eyes trailing slowly back over to her. He rolled them, muttering under his breath as he saw the girl nod. "I have trouble waking up in the morning, allright? I'm pretty much dead to the world for most of it."

Sam couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape from her lips, and it only grew worse when Danny glared at her. She put her hand to her mouth in a pathetic attempt to hold back her mirth, but it didn't work. She couldn't get the image of Danny being a worse morning person than she was out of her head-and it was quite an amusing one.

"Crazy girl..." Danny muttered under his breath, his eyes leaving her once more. What could possibly be so amusing about waking up slowly? Women were even more baffling to him than men were. He figured there was something in their estrogen that made them prone to temporary fits of insanity.

Still...

His eyes slowly trailed back over to the girl, who had seemed to control her outburst, though she was still grinning as she resumed taking her class notes. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what it was about this particular one. There was something different about her, both on the outside, and deep in the inside-he had seen it for himself yesterday.

His fascination with the girl had not disappeared, nor had it lessened any. He wanted to know why she was different, why the damnable light that everyone else but him had, why the one that she had was somehow different. He wanted to know why it didn't feel like the others, why he didn't feel that sense of longing to reach out and destroy it, to crush it.

He wanted to know why instead he wanted to have it... but not to destroy it, not like he did with all those he saw around him, even those of his own family got that reaction. He wanted to have it to simply have it, he wanted to have it because it somehow made him feel good, almost made him feel whole...

And at the same time, it disturbed him because it made him suddenly realize that he was not whole. Of course, this was something he had always known, but over the years he had honestly started to think on it less and less, until it barely even registered with him anymore.

He hated it and wanted it. He hated her and wanted her.

Sam caught his gaze, and the green-eyed boy quickly turned his head away. She blinked slowly, her brows knitting in confusion, a slight frown pulling at the sides of her mouth. She watched him for a minute longer, before she tore her head away from him, staring back up at the board.

He really was strange...

* * *

The school day managed to pass by without any further incident. Sam had discovered, to her disappointment, that first period was the only class she had with Danny. Tucker had given her an odd look when she started to complain to him about it, and so she had reluctantly held her tongue. She got the feeling the topic of Danny made him a bit uncomfortable, especially after what he had learned about him the night before, and Sam didn't want to make her oldest friend uneasy in any way.

She hadn't, of course, forgotten about her meeting later on in the day with the black-haired boy she had met yesterday. She glanced down at her watch with a slight smile, and, since she wasn't exactly watching where she was going, walked right into the white-haired boy that had occupied her thoughts for a good portion of the school day.

"Danny!" She felt her face flush from embarrassment. Oh, that was a great way to make an impression on someone-run into them. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"I can see that." He muttered, his mouth twisting in a slight frown. "And now that you've apologized, could you stop clinging to my chest?"

Sam's face heated up more, backing slowly away from the boy. Ahhh, that was stupid of her. She had been so preoccupied by how embarrassed she was for smacking into him that she hadn't bothered to back away from him after she had done so. "Sorry. I'm just a little distracted right now."

"I can see that too." He remarked, his voice not shifting from the usual monotone. His eyebrow arched in slight curiosity, though, and instead of moving on like Sam had expected him to do, he crossed his arms in front of him and continued to speak to her. "What's so distracting?"

It took a second for Sam to find her voice again, combating both surprise that he was actually starting a conversation with her, as well as her own lingering embarrassment. She was almost grateful for the fact that Danny didn't really have the proper emotional responses to react to that collision like anyone else would. But just a little.

"I'm meeting someone in about two hours." She said slowly, adjusting her backpack a bit.

"Someone?" Danny asked slowly, tilting his head a bit, white bangs falling over his face.

"Yeah... someone." Sam said slowly, a slight look of confusion coming over her face. Wait, was Danny actually curious about her? That... was a first.

"Who?" He asked again.

Sam could swear she could hear slight curiosity in his otherwise monotone voice, but she eventually decided that it was simply a figment of her imagination. There wasn't any way that Danny would seriously be wondering about her, right? He didn't seem the type to really care. A slight shiver ran down her spine, once again recalling her feelings from when he locked eyes with her yesterday.

"If you must know, his name's..." She paused, her violet eyes blinking in surprise. It hadn't really occurred to her before, but... She almost laughed. "Well, actually, he has the same name as you. Except he uses the full version of the name."

"Hn." His mouth twisted into a slight frown. "Interesting." He looked as if there was something going through his head then, but he eventually shrugged dismissively. "It's a common name. No surprise."

"Yeah, it really is." Sam smiled at him. The white-haired boy gave her a brief look, before shaking his head and continuing on down the hallway without so much as a goodbye. Normally, that would have left Sam fuming, but...

Had she just had a conversation with Danny Fenton, that _he _started? She unconsciously glanced upwards. Any moment, pigs would start flying.

The frown reappeared on Danny's face as he gained distance from the raven-haired girl. It was more of a unconscious action that happened when he thought, than any actual expression. And thinking he was-for though he had dismissed the coincidence of the names, he couldn't seem to dismiss an odd nagging feeling that had started the moment he had heard her speak of the other boy.

It frustrated him to no end, especially considering the fact that he had no idea what the hell was causing it. Annoyance and frustration he could do, after all. Eventually he just shook his head, shoving the entire thing from his mind, like he did with everything else he didn't like to think about.

And that worked, until he stepped onto the block that his house was on. Then the nagging feeling came rushing back, stronger than before, pulling at the corners of his damaged mind. He visibly twitched, muttering under his breath in annoyance.

The feeling spiked in his mind as soon as he stepped onto the steps, now the nagging feeling was screaming in his head, and he was seriously starting to get a powerful headache. Ugh. He would just have to lie down once he got to his room...

He opened the door and looked up, and found his eyes almost immediately meeting a pair of light blue ones.

The feeling consumed him then, changing in form from a nagging to one that could only be described as a combination of rage and utter yearning. His green eyes went wide, unable to free themselves from the blue eyes that they had met, and he found himself staring inside the boy that they belonged to, without really meaning to.

And the second he did, he wished he hadn't. The light he saw in all people was bright, but this one... god, but it was _unbearable_. It seared through his eyes, reaching inside of him, and he felt his body respond to it, yearning out to touch it, to take it back. It would feel like a reunion, like a homecoming... and then when he touched it, it mocked him, wrenching away from him in the most painful way possible.

He let out a cry of pain, forcing his eyes shut with his hands but still the burning form of the light seared in his eyes. He barely heard his parents shocked screams, barely registered that the other boy's now-panicked eyes were looking away from him, over towards a stranger that Danny didn't even know was there.

He didn't register it when his sister took his arm, firing off a round of instructions to all of those gathered. It didn't register as she and his father helped him up the stairs. He didn't feel anything as his sister moved his hands from his eyes, didn't hear anything as she let out a screech of horror upon realizing that they were bleeding.

Danny couldn't even feel it, his mind still reeling from what he had seen inside the boy. The light that he had, the strange inner glow that every human had, every human besides him... His light...

It was _his_. He had it. He had stolen it from him, somehow, some place, and he wasn't giving it back.

He didn't register it when he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

An hour must have gone by since then, and the activity in FentonWorks eventually died down. An exhausted Maddie Fenton collapsed in a chair in front of her son's bed, grateful for the supportive hand that her husband put on her shoulder. They had managed to stop the bleeding, and only prayed that there would be no damage to his vision.

They might have taken him to a hospital, but the Fentons couldn't help but feel extremely nervous about taking their son there. After the accident, he had never done well in them, and the people working there... well, Maddie had a hard time imagining that they would be completely unbiased, considering some of the injuries that their son had caused to people that were brought in.

"Can I come in?"

Maddie let out a long sigh, looking up at her husband a bit. The large man gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze. She reached over and gave him a likewise one, before getting up, and opening the door to her son's room, admitting the man who had come to visit them today.

He was their old friend from college, Vlad Masters. He had been Jack's best friend, and a close friend of Maddie's, but they had grown apart over the years. Jack and Maddie had been stunned when he showed up on their doorstep, but thrilled at the same time. They eagerly let him inside, happy to finally catch up after so long.

"I'm sorry, Vlad." Maddie apologized, looking back at her son, her entire body seeming to express it's worry for him. "I have no idea what happened." She sighed. "It's... This hasn't ever happened before, and..." She looked back at her son. "Oh god, Vlad, I'm sorry. I'm just so worried about him right now..."

"I understand completely Maddie." He gave her a slight smile, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. "If you want me to leave, I could always come back at a more convenient time..."

Maddie opened her mouth to protest, but she shut it quickly, slowly nodding her head. Right now... really wasn't the time to catch up with old friends.

Vlad gave her another pat on the shoulder, giving both Fentons his farewells. He motioned to his son, the boy he had brought and introduced to the Fentons.

If seeing Vlad had been a surprise, seeing his adopted son was a double surprise. They had heard, of course, that he had adopted a child somewhere along the way... but how much he and Danny looked alike was almost unnerving. If not for the accident... their son would have looked exactly like him. They even had the same name. It was more than a little surreal.

The blue-eyed boy glanced with uncertainty up the stairs, chewing on his lip, before he turned and left with his father.

Maddie watched them go, then slowly made her way back over to the chair by her son's bed, taking a seat. "Danny..." she mumbled quietly, reaching out to softly stroke her son's hair. "...what happened?"

The question fell on ears that couldn't give her a response.


	7. Thief

**AN: **Chapter Seven! I must admit, writing Daniel's perspective on the last chapter was quite fun for me. And we all get introduced to another, brand new, confusing concept! The orb, mentioned in Daniel's recollection of events, I'll go ahead and say that it represents the soul. The soul and light are two different, but similar things. And that's all I'll say about that for now! Oh, and in case you're wondering where Jack and Maddie are in this chapter, since it's not mentioned, they are out buying painkillers and medicine. Because it's been so long since anyone's needed it, and they're fresh out.

No, that wasn't just an excuse to get Danny and Jazz alone. Shut up. xD (Snugs) Oh and yes, Danny can feel confusion. Yep. Anyways, as always, thank you all for your support, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter! And as a bonus, I have this picture! Huzzah!

www. deviantart. com / deviation / 42837751 /

Disclaimer: (MAN Am I getting tired of typing this) Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, not me, and I am not making any money off of this.

* * *

Two of a Kind

Chapter Seven: Theif

As Danny Fenton lay unconscious on his bed, her parents and sister worriedly fussing over him, Daniel Masters sat in the back of his father's limo, staring intensely down on the ground. He had a sick, twisted feeling in his stomach, and he clutched at it, looking almost as if he planned on hurling. His body was visibly shaking, and it almost seemed that the glow of life in his eyes had faded, dulling them.

"Father..." He choked out, his voice hoarse. "Who... was that?"

"The Fenton's son, Danny." The white-haired man looked across to the raven-haired boy, his pale eyes taking in her current state, a slight frown on his face. He hadn't expected a reaction like that to happen when the first two met. He had expected some, surely... but not eye bleeding. That was something completely unexpected.

Daniel continued to stare down at the floor of the limo then in silence, his mind reeling, running the past few minutes through his head, trying in desperation to sort things out. It went back to the beginning, just as he and Vlad were heading into the Fentons home. Daniel had been reluctant to go in, but his father had made him. He had promised to the Fentons to have them finally meet _his _son, however.

His son.

Daniel was well aware that he wasn't Vlad's child. Vlad, the man who had raised him for as long as he could remember, wasn't his father. He knew it, because the man had told him so himself. Vlad told him that he had found him, abandoned. He didn't say where, exactly, but the earliest of Daniel's memories were a mass of green, doors everywhere, and strange people, that weren't really people...

He knew that place now was the Ghost Zone. His father hadn't told him, he had found that one out on his own. It baffled him why he was there. He had asked his father about it, and he simply said that he could not possibly know the actions of his biological parents. He was a billionaire, not a psychic.

Vlad did tell him that his biological parents had most likely abandoned him. And he believed him. He had to. What else was there? It must have been because of his powers... the fact that he was different from everyone else around him. After all, how many other boys his age, or at any age at all, could walk through walls, or turn invisible? Nobody.

He was like the ghosts that he had been trapped with in his earliest memories. But he was like the humans, like his father that was not really his father, who had raised him.

His memory was another strange thing. It extended back in a perfect stretch, until it came to when he was four... and then it simply _stopped_. There was just nothing there, nothing before his earliest memories of the Ghost Zone. Those, however, were all hazy and unfocused. His first, clearest memory, was waking up in a comfortable bed, and meeting Vlad. The man he now called his father.

Just because the man wasn't really his father, didn't mean that Daniel didn't love him. How could he not? The man had raised him, feed him, clothed him, and treated him like any other human child. He had taken him in where Daniel was sure that no one else would. He never sought to use the boy's powers for personal gain, never sought to try to determine why the boy was so strange in any painful manner.

Sometimes, he had to wonder though, if Vlad knew more about him than he was letting on.

He realized his thoughts had drifted away, and he focused back on where they were before. His father had brought him to met the Fentons, and their two children. Daniel knew they were both ghost hunters, and that his father was old friend's with them in college. He knew that there had been a spat of some sort, and Vlad and the Fentons had gone their separate ways. Now, it seemed, Vlad wanted to make amends.

For some reason, Daniel had a hard time believing that. Vlad wasn't the kind of person to forgive someone just like that, especially after years of so clearly hating them, as the boy knew he did with Mr. Fenton. How his father felt about Mrs. Fenton, he honestly couldn't say.

The Fentons...

They were nice people, he could tell that already. His apprehension about them uncovering his secret quickly vanished upon meeting them. While Mr. Fenton did seem to ramble on about ghosts overmuch, none of them looked upon him in suspicion. He would have thought it would have been so obvious that he could do things that only ghosts could, but thinking on it now, that worry was just a bit... well, silly. It wasn't exactly something you could tell just by looking at him.

Of course, as much as that worry vanished, a new one had started to replace it. It wasn't so much of a worry, as it was a mystery to him. When his father had first stepped aside to let the Fentons meet his adopted son, both of them... looked very shocked. He wasn't sure to describe it, but the expressions on their faces had made it look like they had just seen someone they never thought to see again.

The silence that had fallen in the room after that was broken by Vlad introducing him. Once again, the Fentons seemed surprised by the name, thought Daniel couldn't figure out why.

And then their son had come home, and somehow...

...he understood.

He had felt the boy, long before he had entered into the house. He turned his head, looking towards the door, wondering what it was that was coming this way, that at once felt like him, but different as well.

When the door opened, and their eyes met, green locking with blue... it was almost like the floor fell out from underneath him. He felt himself being stared into, and in turn, he too stared back into the white-haired boy, his eyes peering into him without giving them any sort of instruction to.

What he saw in him, he felt like it would consume him. There was almost _nothing _in him. Where he sometimes caught glances of a bright glimmers inside a person, brightness wrapped around a multi-colored core, which glowed and throbbed, almost like a heart. The orb seemed to shift colors in response to general moods. It never seemed to stray, never showed any movement except the pulsing, where as the brightness that wrapped around it constantly moved.

The brightness that should have been there, should have been moving everywhere, here and there, glowing and dimming with even the slightest shift in emotion, was gone. Just utterly _gone_.

And the orb... the pretty, glowing, pulsing ball of multi-colored light... It didn't appear as such. It was broken, the stray lights drifting slowly around the body, almost as if it was trying to compensate for the loss of the brightness.

While he was still looking at it, the stray fragments of the orb almost seemed to swirl, suddenly slamming back together. A screech drew him out of his sight, and he looked outside the boy now, utterly horrified to see the crimson trickling down from his brilliant, strange green eyes. Blood. His eyes were _bleeding._

Daniel felt the need to hurl, unable to tear his eyes away from him still. He was silently grateful when the connection was finally broken, and the white-haired boy crumpled into a heap on the floor, out cold.

Thinking about it again made him want to hurl. The blue-eyed boy looked up, glancing across to his father, who was staring almost nonchalantly out his window. How could he be so calm? They had just seen someone _pass out with bleeding eyes! _How could _anyone _be so calm after that!?

"Father..." He choked out, the older man looking over towards his adopted child with a slight frown.

"What is, Daniel?" He asked, his tone worried.

"I..." He shook his head, running a hand through his raven black hair. "I'm sorry, but could you let me off here? I just... I need to organize my thoughts. Get some fresh air."

The man half opened his mouth to protest, but instead he knocked on the window that separated them from the driver. He instructed him to pull over, and stop the car. The driver gave him an odd look, but he did what the man asked.

"Thanks." Daniel said, as he stepped out of the car, his voice quiet. "I'll come back to the hotel... after I'm calmer..."

"Be careful Daniel." His father advised him. With a smile, he added his goodbye, then shut the door, the limo driving back off.

Daniel tucked his hands inside of his pockets, and turned on his heel, quietly heading down the street.

* * *

Green eyes slowly blinked open, the strange eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. Other than that, Danny Fenton gave no signs of being awake.

The house was quiet now, though if he listened closely, he could hear the sounds of dishes clacking in the kitchen. He turned his head a bit, seeing that the room was empty, the chair next to the bed vacant of an occupant. He recognized it as Jazz's room. Someone must have brought him in here. He let out a deep breath, turning his head back, closing his eyes.

"Dammnit..." he mumbled quietly. His head was still throbbing, like someone had smacked him with a blunt object. He groaned, holding a hand to it, pressing it against his forehead. He felt sick to his stomach, like he wanted to hurl... he groaned again and removed his hand, slowly pulling himself up from his bed.

He paused there, catching his breath, his entire body shaking. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this sick. His entire body was aching, dull pain throbbing everywhere. It felt almost like if he stopped focusing on breathing, he wouldn't be able to anymore. "Agh..." He choked out, pain clearly written on his features. He clutched at his head, trying desperately to get the throbbing to go away, but he couldn't.

The door to his room opened then, pushed open by Jazz's foot as she backed into the room, carefully balancing a tray in her hands. She had to walk backwards to get into the room, closing the door behind her with her foot. She was muttering something underneath her breath about how handy a third arm would be at a time like this, when she turned around, and dropped her burden, the plates crashing loudly against the ground, and breaking, soup spilling uselessly against the floor.

"Danny!" She shouted, ignoring what had just happened, quickly rushing over to her younger brother. The twenty-year old woman carefully put her hands on his arm, her voice wavering with worry as she spoke. "Danny, hey." She tried to get him to look at her. "Are you allright, Danny?"

He let out a slow, shuddering breath then, slowly pulling his hands from his face, his green eyes slowly lifting to meet with hers. She let out a worried squeak as she saw them, carefully putting her hands to his face and studying them.

Oh God, he was worse than she thought. His eyes, normally a blazing green, almost glowing, had dimmed, turning into a more pastel color. Jazz had noticed the color-shifting of his eyes early on. When Danny got even the least bit sick, they would start to dull in color. She had never seen them this pale before, and her heart started to pound loudly in her chest.

"Danny...?" She asked again, her voice quavering. She reached up to his forehead, placing a hand on it. Oh God, he was colder than usual. Danny had never felt very warm to start with, but he was almost freezing to the touch now. "Danny?" She asked again, this time a bit louder.

"Jazz..." His voice almost cracked as he spoke, but she was relieved to hear that he still could speak. He swore then, and Jazz moved her hands away from his face as he rested it in one hand, closing his eyes. "I hurt everywhere."

Jazz sat down next to him, resting her hand lightly on his arm still. "Danny...?" She began weakly, uncertain of how to ask now that he was actually awake. "Danny... down there... what happened?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he asked her a question of his own. "Who was that?"

Jazz blinked. "That...? Oh." It dawned on her who he meant. "That was Vlad Master's adopted son..." She paused, her lips hovering over the name, a sudden strange feeling rising in her stomach.

"Daniel, right?" He asked, his mouth twisting in a frown. He swore viciously under his breath then, his eyes opening back up, blazing a fierce green faintly. "That rotten little _thief!_"

Jazz blinked up at him, stunned. Her grip on his arm tightened, and she looked into his eyes, worried. "Thief? Danny, what are you talking about? _What happened?_" The more her brother talked, the more worried she became. She found herself unconsciously drifting back, her mind going to years ago, when she was six... Her mind started to replay the event, pulling facts out from the accident.

Danny was four. Nobody was with him when he had the accident. Whatever he did, he started the portal that his parents couldn't seem to get to work. No one had even known that he was in the basement, until they heard him scream. Jazz was closest, she was the first one to come in...

Her mind paused there. She thought, just for a second when she came into the basement, that she saw something falling into the Portal. She had long dismissed it though. She was six, the accident happened years ago. Memories that old didn't always come out like they had actually happened. She could have just as easily made it up.

Now... why did she feel so uncertain? It suddenly felt like there was something missing, the bottom falling out on her explanation of her brother's mental status.

A week after that, Danny had been unconscious. The change in his hair color hadn't been immediate-it happened slowly, as the boy was out cold. White started creeping in his hair, starting from the tips, until it almost devoured, for lack of a better word, the black color in his hair.

Her attention was brought back to the present, as she heard her brother speak. She gripped his arm tighter, to let him know that she was listening. She had heard the edge of his rage in his voice earlier, and now she knew that she had to find some way to keep him calm.

"Inside him..." The boy muttered slowly, his voice quiet, so that she had to strain to hear him. "His Light... He has _mine_." He hissed the last word, and Jazz gripped his arm tighter, trying to rein him into a calmer mood.

"His what?" Jazz asked worriedly, her eyebrows knitting together.

Danny's gaze slid down to her, and Jazz was secretly relieved that the blazing green had vanished, back into the dull, sickly color. He seemed annoyed that she couldn't understand him. "My _humanity_, Jazz. He stole it."

"What?" Jazz stared at her brother, utterly baffled. "_What_? Your humanity, Danny?" She shook her head, her brow furrowed. "Danny, you can't steal someone's humanity, that's impos... si.. ble..." Her words slowed down as her aqua eyes widened, traveling up her arm to look at the arm that her hands should have still been gripping... but weren't.

Her hands had fallen right through his arm, and she was now holding on to his knee. Aqua eyes met with green, and as Jazz spoke, her voice shook. "Danny... what just happened to your arm...?"

The boy's eyes dropped from hers, staring at where his arm should be, but no longer was. His mouth twisted in a deep frown, his eyebrows furrowing as he seemed to move the arm-at least, Jazz saw his shoulder move. His green eyes watched the invisible arm, and Jazz almost yelped as it suddenly reappeared out of nowhere. Her brother clenched and unclenched his fist several times, before he stared back at his sister, confusion written on his face.

"It turned invisible." He said slowly.

Suddenly, Jazz was very, _very _glad that her parents weren't home right now.


	8. Help

**AN: **Chapter Eight's here! And while I'm somewhat disturbed by the fact that the cure to my writer's block is ranting, I'm glad that (for now) it seems to be gone. Anyways... Sam's rant at the beginning of this chapter was fun to write. Should I be worried? xD And the scene between Jazz and Danny... I had no idea I was even going to be writing that, but I'm glad now that I did.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, and not me. Reviews are always appreciated, and much loved! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and everyone who read too!

* * *

Two of a Kind

Chapter Eight: Help

A soft sigh escaped from the violet-colored lips of Samantha Manson, her eyes closing as she leaned back a bit on the bench she had been sitting on for the past thirty minutes. A look of disappointment was clear on her face, as she placed her hand on it, as if trying to dull out some nonexistent headache.

"...he's not coming..." She let out a deep sigh, her hand gripping her forehead tighter. "He's not coming!" She yelled it this time, in complete and utter frustration. She dropped her hand, letting out an aggravated sound, as she quickly got to her feet, her violet eyes narrowed.

She bit lightly on her fingernail as she paced, talking out loud to herself, headless of any of the passer-bys who were giving her strange looks. "I can't believe it!" She sighed, pausing in her pacing, and hanging her head. "And I thought that he was really nice too..."

Her disappointed look vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced by anger. "Mph! I really hope that something just came up, and that he's not just one of those stupid rich boys who get their kicks out of pulling this kind of crap! And I really hope that I wasn't dumb enough to fall for it." She let out another aggravated sigh, flopping back down on the park bench.

"This sucks."

And so there she stayed for another ten minutes, thoughts racing through her mind at lighting pace. There was no denying that she was angry-especially if this turned out to be what she hoped it wasn't. She would be angry not only at Daniel then, but herself for falling for something like this. Again.

Her mind idly drifted back to the one boyfriend she'd had in her lifetime-Gregor. No, Elliot. Back in the ninth grade, he had arrived in a whirlwind, pretending to be a Goth foreign exchange student from Hungary. And she had fallen for it too, hook, line, and sinker. She'd only became aware to his trick once he accidentally let it slip that he didn't desire for her to continue her friendship with Tucker.

Like she would ever abandon her oldest friend for some shallow boy. Tucker might be annoying at times, there was no denying it, but she knew him better than anyone. And she knew that underneath that annoyance, was a friend that really cared deeply for, and didn't want to see anything bad ever happen to her.

Still... She really hoped that it wasn't what she was beginning to think. She let out a sigh, opening her eyes so that she stared up at the sky. It was slowly starting to change from afternoon to evening, the sky starting to darken a bit as the sun headed down.

I mean... it wasn't like Daniel had even remotely acted like he was one of those kinds of guys. He had seemed really sweet, and really nice... and she really did want to get to know him better. Actually... she frowned as the thought crossed her mind, her eyebrows furrowing together. It was almost exactly the same as how she had felt about Danny.

Now that she thought about it...

There were starting to be several strange coincidences compiling around the two. Having the same name wasn't too unusual, as Daniel was a fairly common name, not much unlike Samantha. Hell, there were four in the senior class alone, not to mention she was sure there were two other Daniels. No, now that she thought more about it...

_His hair used to be black, and his eyes blue..._

Those unexpected words, recalled from her earlier conversation with Jazz Fenton, rang loud and clear in her mind. Her eyes went wide, and she now sat straight up, her mouth somewhat agape. Daniel had black hair, and blue eyes... and the more she thought about that, the more she found that not only did they have that in common, but their entire physical structure was exactly the same. Even their hair was the same length, though both boys wore it in different ways.

She was up on her feet now, her brow furrowed, her chin in her hand. She had started to walk, heading further into the park as her mind picked at what she knew about them. Which... when she thought about it, wasn't all that much, especially when it came to Daniel.

Granted, she knew things about Danny that she was certain not a whole lot of people outside of his family and a few authority figures knew, but... she still really didn't know him all that well. After all, she had only been talking to him for about three or so days, and this afternoon was the only time that she had even gotten a hint of a decent conversation out of him.

And as for Daniel, well, she had only met him once. Once again, the faint twinge of anger sprang up, but she shoved it down, focusing on what she found more important right now. To anyone else, this might just look like coincidences, but...

It was _too _strange, she thought. Her theory was strengthened as she recalled two tidbits of information about both teenagers. Danny had his accident with the portal when he was four-she knew that from talking to his older sister. As for Daniel... according to her parents, it was almost like he hadn't existed until he had turned four. People curious to discover where Mr. Masters had adopted the boy from failed, finding absolutely no record of him, anywhere.

Now she had to admit that her thoughts were starting to take a strange turn. She had shown that there were an unusual amount of coincidences surrounding the two teenagers, but no matter how she turned the information over in her mind, she couldn't come up with anything that sounded the least bit reasonable. At first, she thought that it might be possible that somehow there were two of them... but she discarded that thought. It was impossible.

Wasn't it?

"Ack!" Her eyes suddenly shot wide open, as she felt herself trip, and her body contact with the grassy ground of the park. She lay there for a second, heaving a sigh, silently grateful that nobody had been around to see that. She was just turning out to be a right picture of grace today, wasn't she? She really had to learn to pay more attention to where she was going when she walked and thought at the same time.

A soft groan snapped her out of her thoughts, and she pushed herself off the ground, peering around. She hoped that she hadn't tripped over someone... but then, what would someone be doing lying in the middle of the park at this time of day? And so far in... people rarely came to the more wooded area to relax.

Her breath escaped her in the form of a gasp, as she quickly got to her feet, scrambling over to the person that she had tripped over. "_Daniel?!_"

* * *

"Jazz... you know that if you pace anymore, you're going to wear a whole in the floor." White eyebrows cocked as green eyes watched the twenty year old woman. Danny Fenton sat almost casually on the bed, his head resting against his arm, which was propped up on one of his knees. His white hair hung loose about him, and he blew out on some of his bangs to keep them from falling in his face.

Jazz shot her brother an annoyed look. "I can't help it!" She stopped her pacing, staring at him. "And why are you so calm, Danny? Your arm just turned invisible. _INVISIBILE_. Anyone else would be freaking out!"

Danny blinked, giving the girl a blank look. After a minute, Jazz groaned, hanging her head. "Oh... right." She heaved a sigh, running a hand through her firey red bangs. "I'm sorry Danny, I..."

Danny cut her off, getting up from the bed and walking over to her, and placing his hands firmly on her shoulders. Jazz looked up at him, her aqua eyes connecting with those of her younger brother's, her mouth still somewhat agape. "Danny?" She asked, blinking a few times.

"Jazz... Stop apologizing." He said firmly. A hint of a smile formed at his lips, a shudder running down Jazz's spine from how plastic it was. She knew he felt it too, but no look of hurt crossed his face. No look of pain, no look of confusion... nothing. Just that little plastic smile, that little fake grin...

It hurt. _God _but it hurt to see. _She _was the older sibling. _She _was the one who was supposed to protect her little brother from everything, from anyone who tried to hurt him. _She _was supposed to help him through his awkward puberty, and _she _was supposed to give him a helping hand, supposed to navigate him through his academic career, helping with both schoolwork and social life.

But she never had the chance to. Four short years of his life her brother was normal... and then... it was simply over. Gone. Vanished like... like it had never even really happened. And while she supposed that she always realized it, and while she was sure that it shouldn't hurt this badly...

But it did.

She couldn't control herself then, she couldn't stop the tears from trailing down her face, as she began to outright sob. She had always been the strong one... the unbreakable one, even when she was little. She kept telling herself over and over that it would be selfish to give in and cry, and she had started to believe it. Over the past few years, she had only ever let tears slip from her eyes a few times. Recently...

Something had changed. Something had started to move, and Jazz wasn't sure what it was. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she didn't instinctively know the answer. Things were starting to move, and leaving her behind. Sam, Danny, that strange boy that Vlad claimed was his son, the strange boy that caused Danny so much and reminded her so much of him... the one that Danny claimed had stolen his humanity, and now his body parts were pulling invisible acts?

She had no answer. And what answer she had was crazy. She had never felt this way before... no, she realized... that actually wasn't entirely true, was it?

She had vowed a long time ago that so long as Danny remained this way, she would not only not let it change they way she acted with him, but she would find a way to make him whole again. It was her entire reason for wanting to become a psychologist, why she had studied so desperately.

She wanted to save him. She wanted to see that bright smile that she faintly remembered, that pure, innocent display on her four year old brother's face. She wanted to see that, and not the horrible mockery that appeared whenever he thought it should. Not the calculated smile, that deep down, held nothing more behind it than a lie. It was beautiful, and it was cruel.

And also... she knew that part of her reason was because she wanted to save _herself_. People always thought that she could never possibly have any problems herself-after all, someone studying the human mind should never suffer from any mental stress, right? But she knew that wasn't true... she that from the way she kept denying things, from the way she had been trying to keep herself from crying all of these years.

She had foolishly tried to take this whole burden on herself, all the while only distantly realizing that she was doing it because she felt responsible. If she had been watching him better, like she should have been then... it wouldn't have happened. Her brother would be normal. _Normal_. No white hair, no inhuman green eyes, no fits of rage or inexplicable strength. His emotions would all be there, intact and pure.

It was strange, but she knew that at the same time that Danny had told her to stop apologizing, that he had really been telling her that he wasn't her responsibility. Telling her that she had to stop forcing herself to be the strong one, telling her that if she kept this up... then she would break, and she might never be able to fix herself.

Telling her that she had to let it out.

And she did then, wrapping her arms around her brother, and clinging to him like it was she who was the younger sibling, instead of him. Their current problems all forgotten, no sound filled the room save for the woman's racking sobs, as she poured out, all at once, years of pent up tears and frustrations.

She let everything come out, her hands digging into the black material of Danny's shirt. And he wrapped his arms around her, holding his sister as closely as he could, staying silent throughout her entire fit of emotion. And though he said nothing, and though his eyes and expression were blank, somehow...

Somehow Jazz felt something. Love, attachment, kindness, affection... she swore she felt them, buried so deeply that she couldn't even hope to reach them... but they were _there_. They were buried under everything, twisted and torn, but they were still there. They weren't gone, they weren't lost forever. Even if they could never be reached again, the fact that they were still, existing...

It was real hope.

* * *

"Daniel!?" Sam kneeled down by him, placing a worried hand on his forehead. "Oh god, Daniel, you're freezing!"

Blue eyes slowly blinked open, staring into hers. They were strangely blank for a moment, and Sam felt a twinge of familiarity, almost, as she gazed into them. Like that... they almost reminded her of Danny's.

"...Sam...?" He asked slowly, blinking again. When his eyes opened, the blankness had faded, his eyes appearing normal again. "What... agh... where the hell am I?" He reached for his head, holding it. He still had the echoes of a throbbing headache, but he was slowly starting to feel better. He vaguely remembered hurling somewhere around here, then collapsing...

"In the park." She said quickly, removing her jacket and putting it over his shoulders. He was freezing cold, almost like ice... Every little bit of anger that she had been feeling towards him earlier vanished in an instant, guilt replacing it. She had thought such awful things about him, while was out here, clearly suffering... God, what had he gone through? He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

He smiled up at her, it was weak, but somehow, it strangely moved her heart. Sam felt her cheeks heat up, as she all too quickly moved her hands from his shoulders. Thankfully, Daniel seemed oblivious to how flustered she was, as he slowly pulled himself up off the ground, and handed Sam's jacket back to her, softly shaking her head.

"But..." She began to protest. "Daniel, you're _freezing."_

He smiled sheepishly at her. "I'm always this cold. It's... just a condition."

She blinked slowly, taking her jacket back and holding it tightly to her chest. "A condition?" She asked, that familiar twinge rising in her again.

He grinned. "Yeah. It's nothing to worry about though." Daniel blinked then, looking at the expression on her face. His eyebrows knit together, and he quickly checked himself to make sure nothing had accidentally become intangible or invisible. "Hey... Sam, are you allright? You look... kind of out of it."

"Huh?" She blinked, then shook her head. "Daniel, I should be the one asking _you _that. What happened? Why were you lying out here like... like..." She paused, trying to find an appropriate simile. "...Like some sort of drunken hobo!"

Daniel stared at her for a second, before he couldn't help himself, and burst out laughing. He tried to contain his laughter with his hand, but he failed miserably. For a moment, Sam was angry with him again, but that moment quickly faded as she realized just how ridiculous what she said had sounded.

After a long while, Daniel gave her a smile. "I just started to feel a little sick." He saw her open her mouth, then shook his head, stopping her from speaking. "No, I'm fine now. Don't worry about it." He saw her prepared to protest again, and so he simply gave her another smile.

"I'm serious, Sam. You're acting like someone's mom."

Sam gave him another long, disbelieving look. She got the feeling that there was something that he wasn't telling her about, but she had to resist the urge to pry. Even though Daniel's possible connection to Danny was tugging at her mind, she would simply have to find a way to ignore it. She'd just met him, and she didn't want any possible future friendship that she might have with him to be jeopardized by her scaring him off by asking him a barrage of strange questions.

"Allright. If you say so, Daniel." She said with a sigh.

The raven-haired boy rewarded her with another grin. Honestly... he was somewhat grateful that she had found him. Right now, he really needed someone who could help take his mind off of this afternoon. Just thinking about it, he felt the taste of bile rise in his throat. He shoved it back again.

"I do." He said, reassuring both her and himself. His eyes lit up a bit then, as an idea struck him. "Hey Sam... let's go someplace."

The violet-eyed girl blinked, somewhat startled by the offer. But she quickly found herself smiling-the smile on Daniel's face seemed to be infectious. "Sure."


	9. Two Sides

**AN: **Yay chapter nine! Sorry this took awhile but you know... life sucks like that sometimes. I'm kind of lukewarm about this chapter, but I like it well enough. Annnd... I don't really have anything else to say. ...soo. Yep.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom does not belong to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman.

* * *

Two of a Kind

Chapter Nine: Two Sides

Once Jazz had finally wiped away all of her tears, she was helped downstairs by Danny, still a bit shaken by the fit of emotion that had taken over her. She sat down in the kitchen chair with a long sigh, as Danny looked at the dishes she had left unwashed in the sink with a slight frown. Jazz looked up at him, the faintest hint of a smile appearing on her face as her brother muttered underneath his breath in annoyance, turning on the warm water.

She waved a dismissive hand at him. "Leave it, Danny. I'll wash them all later." Her brother turned off the faucet and turned around, his bright green eyes falling on her. For once, Jazz didn't feel that unconscious shiver that she had always gotten when she looked at those eyes before. She supposed that her newfound knowledge about her brother might have helped a bit.

"Sit down." She scooted out the chair next to her. "We need to talk."

Danny gave her a long look, but eventually he took the seat next to her. Jazz gave him a faint smile, reaching over to him and taking one of his hand's in her own. She clasped it, her aqua eyes looking into his green. "Danny..." She began slowly. "What's happening?"

"I could ask you the same question." He took his hand back, staring at it. "I have no idea. But damned if I'm not sure that it has something to do with that... _Daniel _kid." His name rolled off his tongue as if it was some kind of blasphemy just to say it.

Jazz heaved a sigh, placing her hands awkwardly back in her lap. "You're going to have to start over at the beginning with that one, Danny. What happened when you saw him? Why... why did you..." She left her question hanging, not wanting to finish it, and knowing that she didn't have to.

"Start screaming? Why did my eyes start bleeding?" The white-haired boy arched an eyebrow, propping one foot up on his chair and leaning an arm on it. And then he laughed, but it was such a bitter and cold one, that caused Jazz heart to feel just a tiny painful squeeze.

Her brother's inhuman green eyes trailed over to her, giving a pause at the slightest wave of pain that went through her eyes. He always knew that talking to him sometimes caused her pain-just because he lacked emotions, didn't mean he wasn't aware of the ones of those around him. He always knew that his state had caused his older sister suffering- her earlier breakdown just proved that further.

And he knew it wasn't just her, but his parents as well. On the surface, the Fenton family might seem like it was doing just fine. But like with so many other families that had to cope with one of their children having such a mental problem as he did... there was always tension, always conflict brimming just below the surface of everything. Everyone had to be careful, because everyone knew that it would only take on spark to break everything apart.

Everyone in the Fenton family knew that the tension existed. It came more and more to the surface, every time something happened, every time that Danny's anger got the better of him. It had almost been brought to a breaking point the last time he had let his temper loose...

Sometimes his parents acted distant from him, though it wasn't as if he could blame them. He was unable to sympathize, but he knew what was going through their heads. His parents were some of the leading ghost experts in world, and Danny knew that sometimes when they looked at him, they couldn't help but think of those creatures that they had spent all their adult lives hunting and researching.

The irony that he might actually be one was never lost on him.

"Yes..." Jazz mumbled, nodding slowly. She looked back up at him.

Danny frowned a bit, chewing on his lip. His eyes closed, running possible explanations for what had happened over in his head. Jazz had no idea what Light was-Danny didn't even know if anyone else did. He wasn't even certain if Light was the right name for it, it was simply what he had just began to call it after awhile.

He opened his eyes, dropping his feet back to the ground. "That kid..." He said slowly. "He stole something from me." He stopped Jazz as she opened up her mouth to say something, and his sister quickly quieted.

"Light." His mouth twisted into a little frown, mimicking what he though he should show. He held up one of his own hands, staring through it.

Jazz watched him in mild confusion, only half-noticing that her brother's bright green eyes seemed almost brighter than usual. At least not until Danny dropped his hand, and looked straight through her with those eyes. Then she couldn't look away from them, instantly becoming aware of how brightly they glowed and how... how ghostly they looked. A cold shiver ran down her spine, and she could almost swear that she felt the temperature in the room drop. Where it was nice and warm before, it was now freezing cold...

And then the glow in her brother's eyes vanished, and the temperature changed back to normal, as if nothing had happened. Jazz let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, blinking a few times. "What..." she said after awhile, "What... was that?"

"I was looking at it." He said simply. "Your light." He might have enjoyed her ensuing look of confusion if he could have. "I'm not even sure if that's what it's called..." He began explaining without being asked. "But I've been able to see it for a long time now. Since the accident."

"What exactly is it?" Jazz asked, leaning forward a bit. She had to admit that now she was interested. Though she did hope that Danny wouldn't do that again, she know had her answer for why it did feel like the temperature dropped sometimes in this house. So much for the string of faulty air-conditioners theory.

He gave her a look then, the corners of his mouth turning into a little plastic frown. "I don't really know... but I think that it has to do with emotions." His pseudo-frown vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, as his eyes slid back to her. "Considering that I'm the only one who doesn't have it."

Jazz blinked, taking Danny's hand back in her own, as she looked up at him. "And... you think that boy... Daniel, that he stole yours?" Her eyebrows knitted together. "Danny, how is that even possible? The two of you have never even met before."

"He looks exactly like I should." Danny arched an eyebrow. He saw on Jazz's face that she understood this, as the older woman closed her eyes, leaning back in thought. "I don't know why, Jazz... I just know he has something of mine, and that I want it _back_."

It was impossible to miss the anger that was brewing just below the surface of his words.

* * *

Sam smiled over at the raven-haired boy, her hand clutched in his as she led him out from the little alcove of trees that she had found him collapsed in. He was already looking much better than when she had found him, though he stumbled every now and then. His body hadn't yet returned to a warm temperature, his cold hands strange-feeling against her warm ones.

"Where do you want to go?" She asked, her violet eyes peering curiously at his blue ones. The sun had gone down now, the moon and stars just beginning to come out. The lamps in the park had yet to be turned on, and honestly, Sam could barely see where she was going. It wasn't too surprising. After years of her parents throwing the shades open every morning, Sam was surprised that she had any night vision _at all_.

Daniel gave her a little lopsided grin. "I honestly have no idea." He laughed a little. "Why don't you suggest something?"

He, of course, could see perfectly fine in the dark, his blue eyes gazing at her face. He felt good around this girl, for reasons he simply could not figure out. Everything came easier to him-it was easier to laugh, and he was quicker to smile.

Perhaps it was just a simple case of her being unlike any of the other girls he had met in the past. Greedy goldiggers, shallow little rich girls... all interested more in the fame and fortune of the Masters name than they were in Daniel. Or at any rate, their parents were more interested in it. Some of the girls really seemed like they could care less about whether or not they married someone they actually cared for, or someone that their parents wanted them to.

Sam was different though, and that in itself was refreshing... but he got the feeling that it wasn't the full reason that he felt as he did around her.

It was also because of this, that it hurt him to have to keep his secret from her. But his father had told him never to tell anyone that he was part ghost, and Daniel knew that there would be severe consequences if he did. But he also didn't want to risk losing Sam's friendship... what if she didn't like him anymore after he told her?

His father was the only person who could ever understand... Vlad had told him that. Not upfront but... Daniel couldn't help but believe him. After all, he was a freak of nature. How could anyone possibly begin to understand that?

"We could go see a movie..." Sam started to suggest, then stopped, frowning. "Or we would, if there were something out worth seeing." She had already seen all of the movies that she had wanted to, and she wasn't the type of person who normally went to see a movie in theaters twice.

"Huh." Daniel's mouth twisted into a slight frown. "My father doesn't usually let me go see movies."

Sam stopped in her tracks, looking back at him, honestly surprised. "Really?" She asked. So people did exist that were worse than her parents were.

"My father likes keeping close tabs on me." Daniel heaved a sigh. He knew exactly why-the man hardly wanted to risk anyone finding out what exactly it was that he had decided to take in under his roof. Daniel wasn't a fool, he knew that Vlad had some sort of plan in store for him. He knew that was part of the reason that he had taken him in.

But he also believed that part of it was because he loved him.

And part of him hoped that belief didn't just stem from his own denial of reality.

"That must be awful." Sam's lips twisted into a frown. Her hand moved from Daniel's, as she crossed them in front of her. "I couldn't imagine what would happen if my parents tried to keep me on a leash." She laughed a little then, unable to hold the frown any longer, a smile slipping onto her face. "Well, anymore than they already try to."

Daniel couldn't help but laugh, his white teeth flashing a little in the darkness. Around them the park lamps slowly started to come on, a half moon hanging overhead. "I couldn't imagine that your parents could even keep you leashed."

"Isn't that the truth?" Sam shook her head. "I'd imagine that it's a little bit harder escaping from one of the most powerful men in America, though."

"The president?" Daniel teased, trying to sound serious, but failing miserably. Not to mention that the goofy grin spread over his face gave it away.

Sam laughed, shaking her head. "Yes, Daniel, the president. The president is after you."

"I _knew _that was why those men in black suits were following me..." He just gave up trying to sound serious here, knowing that he couldn't pull it off.

"Pffft." Sam shook her head. "I'm surprised that Mr. Masters doesn't have a search team looking for you already."

Daniel's mirth seemed to vanish for a second. "Oh... yeah. He thought I needed some time alone..." He mumbled quietly.

Sam blinked, frowning. "Is something wrong?" She asked, putting a hand on Daniel's shoulder, looking into his eyes. What exactly _had _happened to cause her to find him as she did? The thought had never really left her, but she hadn't thought it would have been a good idea to ask.

"Nothing." He grinned at her, shaking his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." His blue eyes met with her violet ones, and his smile vanished, the raven-haired boy heaving a sigh. "Allright..." He looked back up at her, a half-smile on his face. "Can I show you something?"

Sam blinked, a bit surprised by the offer, as she removed her hand from Daniel's shoulder. "Sure."

He took her hand, flashing her a brief depressed smile. "Come on, I don't want to do this out in public." He led her back into the small thicket of trees that she had found him in earlier. Once there, he dropped her hand, and peered back at her, his blue eyes visible even underneath the darkness that had now covered the two of them, now that the lamps from the walkway were out of view.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to show you?" He asked her. He knew that if his father ever found out what he was doing now, he'd be in deep trouble. But he needed to let someone else in on his secret-he needed someone to talk to. His father was a great man... but Daniel really felt like he didn't completely understand him.

"Provided I can see anything in this light." Sam observed. "Of course, Daniel. I won't tell anyone."

He smiled at her, before closing his eyes and letting out a deep breath. He held his hands up in front of her, and Sam had to bite back a gasp of surprise as glowing green energy flowed out of them. The energy formed into an orb, before it floated up, hanging overhead them like their own light.

Sam's eyes followed it, before dropping back down to Daniel. She knew they must have been as wide as dinner plates. That was... in the back of her mind, she was already starting to pull information together. That energy looked familiar, she remembered it as being similar to the energy whisps she saw when she looked at the Fenton Ghost Portal.

"I'm half-ghost." Daniel gave her a little smile, his arms phasing in and out of visibility. "I always have been. Vlad found me alone when I was four... I don't remember anything from before that." He dropped his head, his hair obscuring his face. "I don't know what happened, but I think they must have abandoned me... Because of this."

It was instinct then, that caused her to act as she did, and she found herself wrapping her arms around him. She couldn't even begin to imagine what that must have felt like... not knowing your parents, not knowing why they left you? It must have felt so lonely, and suddenly she did feel grateful for her own parents, as annoying as they could be at times. She knew for certain they loved him... but all alone, Daniel had concluded that his couldn't possibly have. Because he was different. "I'm so sorry..." She whispered.

Daniel tensed briefly, but he relaxed in her arms, letting out a long breath. He closed his eyes, returning her embrace, all of his anxiety seemed to vanish. "It's not your fault." He mumbled. "Don't apologize."

She nodded a little, pulling away and looking into his eyes. "Is there anything that I can do?"

Daniel nibbled on his lip, his eyebrows knitting together. "Do you know anyone named Danny Fenton?"


	10. Movement of the Frozen Clock

**AN: **Finally an update, right? Sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long, but it's finally here! I had fun with some parts of this chapter, and it should be rather obvious as to where I was.

As always, Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. Please do read and leave a review if you like it! I like reviews very much.

* * *

Two of a Kind

Chapter Ten: Movement of the Frozen Clock

"Danny Fenton?" Sam blinked, her eyebrows knitting together in surprise. "Why, why Danny Fenton? I didn't even know that the two of you knew each other."

"I didn't know him before today." Daniel shook his head. "Vla-My father brought me to met the Fentons, earlier." He explained. "He wasn't there when we first came, but the moment I saw him..." He gave a shudder. "I can't explain it, exactly, but it felt..." He groped for words, before letting out a defeated sigh. "Well, it was weird." He gave a small shrug, before smiling a little. "So you do know him?"

Sam nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. He transferred into our school a few days ago. He plays guitar in band, too." She told him. "I don't know much about him either, I'm afraid." She took his hand, pulling him down to sit on the grass with her. "But what do you want to know? I'll try to answer as best I can, if it's that important to you."

"Thanks. You're a big help." Daniel gave her a small smile, crossing his legs in front of him.

Sam laughed a little, shaking her head. "Don't say that yet. I haven't even told you anything."

"Still." He placed his hands in his lap, his smile growing. "I'm glad that you're at least trying to help me. Especially since we just met."

"Of course I would!" She told him, reaching up to flick him on the forehead. Daniel winced a little, his hands moving up to where she flicked him. "I don't why not. You seem like a good person, Daniel." She made a face then. "And definitely a lot nicer than Danny Fenton." She said underneath her breath. "That guy... I don't even think he'd accept my help, even if I offered it to him."

Daniel blinked, putting his hands back down. "Really? Is he not a nice person?"

Sam frowned at that, crossing her legs. "It's not that he's not nice... It's more of that he never talks to anyone." She closed her eyes, her frown growing deeper. "He's the kind of guy that tries to isolate himself from everyone for some reason." She sighed, uncrossing her legs and flopping back on the grass, staring up at the starry sky. "But at the same time, he seems very sad..." She trailed off a little, thinking of him.

"Sad?" He asked, tilting his head a little. He frowned as he thought back to their brief encounter and to what he had seen inside of him. Sad... remembering what he had seen inside of him, it was more like he was broken and empty. He had never seen anyone so utterly damaged before, and he couldn't help but wonder what had done it to him.

He kind of had an uncomfortable feeling that he knew, though.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Sad." She sighed, flopping back in the grass to stare up at the night sky. "I don't even know if he knows it though. According to his sister, he can't feel a whole lot of emotions." She didn't mention what she had heard about his anger and his violent outbursts. "It's a real toll on the whole family."

"I see." Daniel sighed, looking back up at the sky.

"Why did you ask about him, anyways?" Sam asked, turning her head back towards the raven haired boy. She felt the tug of suspicion rise in her again, but she pushed it aside to wait for an answer.

He frowned then, closing his eyes, his head downcast as he rested his forehead in his hand. "I don't know, really." He shook his head. "It's just, when I met him today..." He heaved another sigh, dropping his hand and looking over at Sam. "I don't know. I took one look at him and I couldn't look away for a long time. It felt like... well, it felt like..." He heaved another sigh, at a loss for words. "I don't know what. Maybe like I knew him from somewhere?"

If Sam's suspicion had only been tugging before, right now it was yanking at her. Still, she said nothing and merely nodded. She would hold back her theories until she had some kind of solid proof. The whole idea was ludicrous, really. One person being split up into two completely different people? Impossible.

Then again, she might have said that earlier about a human having ghost powers.

"Well." Daniel got up then, giving her an almost sad smile. "I probably should head home before my father really does send out a search party after me." He extended his hand down to Sam, offering her help up. "I'm sorry our time couldn't have been spent a little more pleasantly."

The raven haired girl shook her head and took his hand, using it to help pull herself up. "It's okay. I'm just glad if I helped you in any way." She smiled at him, then reached over to pat his head. She felt so warm around this boy and it almost seemed as if she was quicker to smile, and less quick to pull out a sarcastic quip. It was drastically different from how she felt around Danny- sympathetic, yet pissed off, and just a little bit put off.

The raven haired boy blushed at that and turned his head away from her. "Hey. I'm not a dog." His eyes looked down at the ground, glad that the darkness of the park hid his blush from her.

Sam laughed a little then and tucked her hands back into her skirt pockets. "Sorry. Do you think we can meet each other again?" She asked then. She shuffled around in her pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. "I wrote my phone number on this earlier." She offered it to him. "Call me if you have the chance to later."

A huge smile broke across Daniel's face as she gave the scrap of paper to him and he nodded. "I will. Thanks, Sam. For everything."

She shook her head, tucking her hands back into her pockets. "I didn't really do anything that need thanking. But still, your welcome."

Danny opened his mouth up to protest to that, but just shook his head and grinned at her. "I'll call you later. I promise." He raised his hand, waving goodbye, before he hurried off into the night, melting into the dark.

Sam waved to him as he left, then let out a deep sigh, her eyes drifting upwards towards the starry sky. What was going on here? Everything had suddenly started to get complicated all of a sudden.

But the night sky held no answers for her.

* * *

"Danny." Jazz said firmly, reaching out to take her younger brother's hand. "Danny, I want you to calm down, right now." She said as calmly and slowly as she could. She'd seen the warning signs of Danny's fits before, and he was definitely starting to head in that direction. His eyes had suddenly started to blaze brighter and the air around them practically crackled from the amount of anger that was being emitted from his body.

If she didn't try to do something now, it might be too late. She didn't know if Danny would stop at just almost killing someone this time.

And that thought frightened her a great deal.

"Danny, listen to me." She began again. "Whatever's going on, we can find a way to deal with it that doesn't resort to using violence." She clenched his hand a little tighter, trying to get him to pay attention to her.

Anyone else might have thought that she was crazy for trying to turn her brother's attention on to her in the state he was in. Maybe she was, but Jasmine Fenton knew one thing. And that was the fact that the day she gouged out her own eyeballs with a toothpick would come sooner than the day she feared for her own safety around her brother. No matter what had happened and what might still happen, he would always be that to her- her precious little brother. She knew that he would never hurt her, nor hurt anyone that he loved.

Even if he couldn't feel it anymore.

His eyes moved, the inhuman green orbs focusing on his sister. His body stayed perfectly still otherwise, until his lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "Why not?" He drew his hand away from his sister's and pushed his chair back, standing up. "It would make things so easier." He turned towards her, eyes not leaving her face. "He's just a little thief, Jazz. He doesn't deserve to live any longer. Not using what's _mine._"

Jazz's eyes narrowed then and she stood up and crossed the room to face her brother... then smacked him promptly across the face.

"What kind of logic is that Danny?" She didn't give him a chance to retort or even really react before she opened her mouth. "It's no kind at all! You don't even know what's really going on yourself! What would you do if you killed an innocent person?" She asked him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Danny's eyes remained fixated on her now, one hand up against the cheek that had been struck, where it was already turning a bit red. The anger in the had vanished, replaced by what truly seemed to be confusion. He had never seen his sister lose her temper like this before. Jazz was one of those people who truly did have a very long fuse. Her must have been at least the length of the state of California.

"Would you really just throw all our parents and I have done for you?!" She asked him, her eyes not dropping from his face. "Just for some crazy theory that you have? I won't let you do that, Danny!" Her voice finally quieted down then. "I won't let you waste everything."

Danny remained silent, just staring at the woman. Finally, after about two minutes of it, Jazz simply heaved a sigh. "If you need me, I'm going to be in my room. I'm tired." She brushed by him, heading up the stairs. These past two days or so really had been emotionally draining for her. She was truly, utterly exhausted, but at the same time, she also felt the best she had in a long, long time. It dawned on her that she really needed to get that all out, get everything that was pent up inside of her for so long out into the open.

She opened the door to her room and heaved a deep sigh, flopping down on her bed. It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep, her first restful one in awhile.

* * *

It took another three full minutes after Jazz left before Danny could finally move again, his hand dropping down from his cheek. His eyes slowly drifted towards the general direction of Jazz's room, for the first time actually feeling something besides rage and annoyance. He wasn't actually sure if it was just the fact that what had happened was shocking enough to shake a true response out of him, or if he'd always had the ability to feel bewildered and just had never known it.

He blinked a few times, before he tucked his hands into his pockets, the last lingering feelings of confusion fading away, leaving him once more feeling empty. Actually, he didn't really feel empty. He only thought he should. In reality, he knew he felt nothing. He closed his eyes and let a sigh escape his lips, before he headed out of the kitchen. He paused in front of the basement door, before he slowly headed down the steps.

He finally came to a stop in front of the swirling portal, it's green color the same as his strange eyes. He looked down towards his right arm, pulling it out of his pocket and concentrated on it, wondering if he could make it invisible again. Just as he suspected, it did. Concentrating a little more, it then resumed it's normal state.

He looked away from his arm then, his eyes once more looking at the Ghost Portal. He took another step forward and then another, until almost a hair divided him and it. He reached out then and placed his hand against the energy, pushing through it. It went through and for a second, he felt the echoes of the pain that had shocked his body all those years ago, but it vanished almost as quickly as it came.

He looked behind him then, wondering if his parents had come back yet or not. Not hearing anything, he took another step forward and pushed his upper body through the portal, looking at what was beyond it.

The first thing he noticed were the doors. Doors of all shapes, of all sizes, of all colors, were floating all over the place, moving around as if by their own free will. Here and there he spotted what he was sure was a ghost, who only paused to glance at him curiously before they went on their way.

He frowned a little, a purely instinctive reaction, something that he felt no emotions behind. He looked below him and realized that there was no ground, nor floor of any time, at least not that he could see right away. He looked back up and continued to stare for awhile longer, before he finally stepped back and came all the way back into the Human World.

"Weird place." He commented. To be honest, it was the first time he had seen it, or even had come close to the portal since the accident. He wasn't entirely certain what made him finally do it tonight, but perhaps it was for the best. He heaved another sigh as he tucked his right hand back into his pocket and turned around, heading back upstairs.

He paused to look back towards the front door, then turned away from it, heading upstairs. He reached for the pull that lowered the attic stairs and pulled it, pulling down the stairs to his room. He climbed up them and shut the panel before him.

He stood there in the darkness for awhile, his eyes looking around the room. Even in the dark, he could still see perfectly fine. His night vision was almost the same as his day vision, in fact. It was something that he had never told anyone in his family about.

He let out another mock sigh as he strolled over towards his bed and sat down on it. He blinked once before he flopped back down at it, staring up at the ceiling. He knew that right above him was the Fenton Emergency Operations Center. In fact, half of the attic space was cut off because of the stairwell that lead up to it. He didn't mind it though. He had never desired to have that much space. That was why he had always chosen to live in the attic in fact, instead of a proper room.

The other reason was because he liked the distance it put between him and his family. There was something uncomfortable about being around them. He loved them, he was sure that he did, even if he never felt that way, but watching them reminded him of how much pain he caused them every day. He knew that seeing that should trigger some response in him- I mean, they were his _family, _his own flesh and blood- and yet, it brought nothing to him. He was sure that if he could, he would have felt ashamed for not even being able to muster the tiniest bit of emotions towards the people who were supposed to be the most important in his life.

There really wasn't a day that went by that Danny didn't wish that he could turn back time, and stop the accident from happening. Or at least wish that he had died in it, that way they wouldn't have to suffer seeing him like this. He was pretty much dead already, he figured. His heart kept beating and his lungs kept working, true enough, but could you really call someone like him alive?

He thought about a lot of things at night. It was a lie what he had said to Sam earlier, that he had trouble getting up in the morning. It was more like he almost never went to sleep, lying alone on an almost useless bed. He had a lot of time to think about things.

He closed his eyes, wondering what everything would be like if the accident had never happened. He would be normal, his hair would still be black and his eyes would still be blue and human. He would be able to feel any emotion he wanted, whenever he wanted. He would be able to get embarrassed, to laugh, and to actually make friends with people.

It should have hurt, thinking about such things. But he couldn't even feel that. That was probably the worst part. Though he knew he was suffering and was in pain, he could never even feel that. He would give anything to feel that, just suffering and in pain.

He wouldn't feel so empty then, so filled up with nothing. There would be something there, something to connect him to other human beings.

And instead there was his rage and his anger, which seemed to only connect him to ghosts.

What was he anyways?

He opened his eyes and heaved another mock sigh, pushing himself up from his bed. He had long since gotten over the fit of illness that had shaken him. Glancing towards the hatch in the attic floor, he shrugged his shoulders and let the stairs down again. He headed down them and headed towards the front door, stepping outside. He paused to look around, then left the house, taking in a breath of cool night air as he did so.

He tucked his hands into the pocket, seemingly immune against the chill of the night as he headed down the street. he wasn't particularly going anywhere, he was simply wandering. He liked to do this sometimes, when he didn't want to have to deal with anyone or anything.

He paused then, hearing the sound of booted feet against the sidewalk. He listened to it and sure enough, just a handful of seconds later, none other than Samantha Manson came walking around the corner and nearly rammed into him for the second time today. She managed to stay on her feet this time, though she stumbled backwards a bit.

"Ouch." She rubbed her nose, which had smacked pretty hard into Danny's chest. "I'm so-Danny?!" She sounded rather surprised, then flushed a dark shade of crimson. This was the second time in one day that she had run into him! He was going to start thinking she was a total spaz if she wasn't careful.

"Oh. Hey." He said, his voice his usual monotone. "Are you okay?" He asked, more out of procedure than out of any concern for her.

Sam seemed to realize this, her blush quickly fading. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about running into you again." She apologized fully. "What are you doing out here?"

"Taking a walk." He said, wondering if she was going to try to start up a conversation with him again. He was still curious about this girl and her bizarre light, but his mind was on other things now.

_He's back to being cold again. _Sam thought, resisting the urge to heave a sigh. She had hoped that the fact that he had started a conversation with her earlier was a good sign, but it looked like it was just a fluke after all. That was too bad. She really would have liked to be able to get to know him.

She could have slapped herself for that then and once more steeled her resolve. She was going to get to know this boy, no matter how much he didn't want it. He had caught her interest and there was no way she was going to let him go that easily. Besides, they were all bandmates, why couldn't they be friends? The way she figured it, someone like Danny kind of needed them, and rather badly.

"Oh, really?" She smiled at him. "I was heading home! Why don't you walk with me?" Oh, now that would give her mother a heart attack.

He stared at her for a few minutes, then shrugged his shoulders. "Fine." He would never understand why this girl was being so bloody persistent about getting close to him.

Sam's smile grew and on an impulse, she reached out and took his hand, pulling it from his pocket.

Almost the second they contacted with one another, Danny's eyes went wide and he let out a sharp breath, not in pain, but almost in... hell, he didn't know what. It suddenly felt like a bunch of things had come rushing at him all at once, overwhelming him. He was frozen in his spot for a few moments, before he finally regained control of his body and snatched his arm away from the girl.

"D-Danny?" Sam blinked, confused. What had just happened? She had never seen Danny with a look like the one he had just had on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" He snapped, a hint of his anger showing through. Sam almost took a step back, startled by it's intensity. "Come home by yourself!" He turned away from her, digging both of his hands back into his pockets and headed in the opposite direction from her.

Sam watched him go, utterly baffled by what had just happened. "What was that...?"


	11. A New Morning

AN: Wow, this took all afternoon to write. I forgot how long writing this stuff takes! Oh well, I have fun doing it. This is all setting up for a happy fun time confrontation that will take place next chapter. 3 And also, there are two shower scences. Text based fanservice is a GO! (I might be a little bit of a dork.)

Also, pizza is delicious. NOMNOM.

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Two of a Kind

Chapter Eleven: A New Morning

"Ugh, it's way too early." Sam groaned as her alarm clock went off besides her bed. She hadn't gotten to sleep until sometime late last night, trying to figure out exactly what the hell was going on. Sunlight filtered in through her blinds, irritating her headache. "I feel like crap."

Still, she pulled herself out of bed, turning off her alarm clock. She grabbed some clothes and headed into her bathroom, turning on the hot water for a shower. Today was Saturday, and she wanted to try and talk to Danny, and ask him about what had happened last night. She replayed the scene in her head as she stripped down, tossing her pajamas into the hamper.

The white haired boy had seemed awfully freaked out when he touched her. It wasn't the first time the two had come in contact, she thought, but it might have been the first time that they had actually touched each other somewhere they didn't have clothing. "Maybe it just has something to do with his condition?" She wondered, thinking perhaps he didn't like that kind of contact.

Sam yawned a little, and stepped into her shower. "Ow! That's a bit _too _hot." She hissed to herself, reaching to turn on some of the cold water too. "Well, I'll see how he is today. Maybe I should apologize to him."

The past few days had been kind of strange, frankly. First there was Danny Fenton, a strange boy with white hair and blazing green eyes, like she had seen nowhere before. He had gotten into an accident when he was little, and had developed a condition that seemed to, well, damage his emotions was the best way she could put it. He had a reputation for being a delinquent and a freak, and while he acted cold towards her, Sam couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for him.

Then there was Daniel Master, an equally strange boy who had just arrived in town with his father, Vlad Masters. _His adoptive father_, she reminded herself. Save for his hair and eyes, he looked almost exactly like Danny, and there seemed to be no record of his existence prior to the age of four- the age Danny had been in the accident. He seemed to be rather normal, at least in terms of his personality. A really nice guy, though just a little weird. And also, he had ghost powers.

To be sure, there was some connection here, but Sam had trouble coming up with one. Her first thought was that they were twins, but she quickly tossed that out the window. The Fentons never mentioned anything about Danny being adopted, or having a second son that they gave away. They also didn't seem like they would be the type to just abandon their child like that, even if that child did have ghost powers.

Sam liked the Fentons. They were really nice, all of them. Sure, Jack was a bit eccentric, but she thought they were a wonderful family. It was obvious they all deeply cared for their son, even after all of the trails and pain he must have created for them. She could see why some people thought they were weird, but to be honest, that was part of what made them so nice. They didn't really seem to care all that much what everyone else thought of them, and they just did things as they wanted to.

She hadn't met Daniel's father yet, but she wasn't really sure that she wanted to. As much as she liked the Fentons, her parents idolized Vlad Masters, the very picture of business success. According to Daniel, he was a pretty strict father, but did seem to care for his adoptive son. He knew that he had ghost powers, but it didn't seem to bother him all that much. Still, Sam got a bad vibe from him.

She couldn't really explain it, it was just there.

Heaving a sigh, Sam finished up her shower and dried herself off. She grabbed her clothes and pulled them on, getting on her violet stockings last. She headed out of the bathroom then, and grabbed her combat boots, shoving her feet inside of them. She hoped to slip out of the house without her parents noticing. They wouldn't approve of her going over to the Fenton house. She hadn't even told them that Danny was in her band yet.

She headed downstairs and looked around for her parents. She didn't see them, and figured that they must be in the kitchen. Grinning to herself, she headed out the door as quietly as she could, and hurried down the street towards the Fenton Works building. Maybe she could convince Danny to leave the house and come hang out with her and Tucker for the day. He really was terribly anti-social.

Even Sam, who, admittedly, didn't really talk all that much to other people, knew that wasn't good for him. She remained optimistic that whatever was wrong with Danny could be fixed, though she seemed to be somewhat aware that this might just be because she had only known him for awhile. She couldn't really understand what he or the Fentons were going through, but she wanted to. She wanted to understand Danny especially, because he interested her so much.

She arrived at Fenton Works after awhile, and rang the doorbell. She waited for a little bit, and the door opened, Jack Fenton answering. The large man grinned when he saw her, as if he was truly pleased to see her. "Sam! Come on in, please. Have you come here to see Danny?" He asked.

Truly, Jack was happy to see her. He didn't know the Goth Girl very well, but she was the only friend that Danny had made in a long time. At least, Jack was going to call it a friendship, since Sam seemed to be interested in having one with him. He thought it would be good for Danny to have someone outside his family to talk to- someone fresh, and new. Even he was aware that their relationship was weighed down by the long years of dealing with his condition, and that there were things they just couldn't talk to each other about.

"Yes!" Sam smiled, nodding. "Is he in?"

"Ah, he hasn't even got up yet." Jack grinned, but stepped aside to let her in anyways. "Why don't you go up and try, huh? You might have better luck than we do!"

"Deep sleeper?" She asked, looking back as Jack closed the door behind her. "I think he did mention something about that to me."

"Sleeps like the dead, that boy!" Jack told her. "You know where to find his room, right?" He asked.

"That I do." Sam smiled back at him, finding that the man's grin was actually kind of infectious. Normally, she wasn't this cheerful. Of course, next to Danny, she did kind of look like the Goth bird of happiness. "Thank you, Mr. Fenton." She waved a little at him, and headed up the stairs. Standing on her tiptoes, she grabbed the pull to the attic stairs, and yanked them down.

She crept up them, peeking into the room. It was rather dark in there at the moment, but there was enough light for her to pick out Danny's sleeping form on his bed. Even the crash of the attic stairs hadn't woken him up- Jack really wasn't kidding!

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, it's time to wake up." Sam spoke up as she headed over to his bed. "It's already nine in the morning. How much longer do you plan to sleep?" She asked.

There was no response, and Sam frowned, wondering if she should try shaking him. She didn't want to risk causing him to freak out again, but she figured it might be okay right now. Lightly, she gripped one of his shoulders and gave it a shake. "Hey, wake up Danny. It's Sam."

Danny groaned as his eyes flickered open. He didn't really seem to register Sam for a moment as he pulled himself out of his bed. It seemed like he was rather slow to wake up. He looked over at her for a few moments before he even seemed to realize that somebody was there. "Oh. Sam." He said, honestly sounding tired.

"Good morning, Mister Sleepy Head." Sam couldn't help but grin a little, unable to keep her sarcasm out of her voice. "You really weren't kidding when you said you had trouble getting up in the morning, did you?"

There was a pause then, as Danny blinked a few times, still trying to wake himself up. "What? Yeah, yeah, sure." He nodded, probably not actually having heard what she said. He pulled himself to his feet, yawning as he headed down the attic stairs, as if he had forgotten Sam was there.

"Wow." Sam let out a low whistle. "And I thought I had trouble getting up in the morning." She laughed a bit, following behind him. The half asleep boy made his way to the kitchen table and sat down.

"Good morning Danny!" Maddie greeted him as he came down, providing a plate of bacon and eggs. She looked up as Sam entered the room as well. "Oh hi, Sam! I'm sorry, Danny's going to be like this for awhile, at least until he takes a shower. You're not in a hurry, are you?" She asked.

"No, no, I'm fine. Actually, kind of hungry myself." She admitted. "You got any toast?" She did have things that she wanted to talk to Danny about, but to be honest, it was actually kind of funny watching him like this. She wondered if he even registered anything that was going on.

"That we do. Take a seat." She motioned to the chair across from Danny. "I'm glad you came over, Sam. Danny doesn't have many friends stop by." She admitted.

"Oh, well, I don't know if we're friends just yet." Sam protested, but took the seat provided. "I mean, I would like to be, but I think that's ultimately up to Danny."

"No, I think you two are friends." Maddie nodded, handing her a plate with two slices of toast. "He tolerates you, at any rate. That's kind of the most we can ask from him." She confessed, glancing over at him. She looked just a little bit sad when she said that, but she seemed to make herself cheer up. "But it's a start, I think."

Sam nodded, not quite sure what to say to that. She thanked Mrs. Fenton for the toast, and took a bite out of it, watching as Danny ate his breakfast.

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Meanwhile, Daniel was waking himself up, the bright sunlight filtering into his room through his windows. He yawned, getting himself out of bed. He had gotten in late last night, even after his father went to bed. It was alright though, because to be honest, he didn't really need that much sleep. He figured it was a side effect of being half-ghost, along with his reduced appetite.

He was still unsure what to make of yesterday. So many things had happened, and he couldn't explain them all. His meeting with the Fenton family had to be the strangest of them all. Even his happiness from his meeting with Sam last night had not allowed him to forget what occurred there.

He did have to wonder if the Fenton's son was alright, and half wanted to go and check for himself. But something told him that he should probably stay away.

"Father?" He called out, looking around as he left his hotel bedroom. He walked over to the older man's room and peered in, but found that his bed was empty. "Did he already go out?" He wondered, looking around. "I guess he had something to attend to." Daniel frowned, and headed into the bathroom.

Reduced appetite or not, right now he was starving. He had missed dinner last night because of all that had happened. He figured he would get himself cleaned up and grab a bite to eat somewhere. He could probably get directions to a good restaurant that served breakfast from the concierge.

As he started his shower, Daniel mulled over the past day's events. He still didn't know what to make of the Fenton's son. He looked exactly like him- the only thing that was different was his hair and eyes. And then, then there was what he saw inside of him, which he had to admit, disturbed him. He felt a strange sense of nostalgia when he was in the Fenton home, that he couldn't quite explain. It was almost like he had been there before.

Could the Fentons have been his parents? He wondered. But no, he didn't think Vlad would have brought him into the home of the people who so heartlessly abandoned him. The Fentons didn't seem like bad people either, so he had trouble picturing it. Of course, being born into a family like that might explain why he had ghost powers, but their other child, Jazz, seemed to be perfectly normal.

It was only Danny that was weird.

He looked like him, and they had the same name. They were even the same age. It was too strange for it just to be a coincidence. And the way he had reacted to him... Daniel frowned. He knew that the white haired boy had been able to stare into him too, just as Daniel was able to do. He wasn't sure what he had seen, but it had been so painful to him that it not only caused him to pass out, but for his eyes to bleed.

Mulling over it for a few minutes, Daniel heaved a sigh. "Well, this is getting me nowhere." He admitted. He finished up his shower and grabbed his clothes, getting dressed, pulling his hair back into his customary ponytail. "If it was meant to be, answers will reveal themselves in time." He decided.

To be honest, though, he wasn't sure he wanted to find them out.

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"What do you want?"

About an hour had passed since Sam arrived at the Fenton Works, and Danny had finished his breakfast, taken a shower, and seemed to have fully joined the world of the waking.

"I wanted to come see you!" Sam told him, smiling at him, trying to display a positive attitude.

"Why?" He asked, his voice resuming it's normal monotone, his expression blank once again.

"We're friends, aren't we?" Sam asked, taking a cue from the boy's parents. "That's what friends do, they hang out with each other."

"Funny, I wasn't aware of that." Danny told her. "That we were friends, that is. Look, I joined your band and all, but please don't assume that I have any intention of getting close to you." Besides, he had too many things of his own to figure out today. He didn't need to deal with some girl he barely even knew, trying to be friendly with him.

Strange light or no, he wasn't even sure he wanted to be anywhere near her after what had happened last night. What was that, anyways? He had never felt anything like that before. It felt so very odd. He really did feel something that time, something besides anger or rage. It had been so long, he didn't even recognize what it was.

And now that it was gone, he couldn't even remember what it had felt like. It was probably for the better, he figured. He wasn't sure if he had really even liked it. If that was what her strange light caused, he didn't want anything from it. Besides, there was that Daniel kid now. All he had to do was take his light back from him, and he figured he would be nice and whole again.

"Oh, come on Danny, don't be like that." Sam frowned, looking at him. "All I'm trying to do is be nice to you. Is that really so bad?" She asked.

"Yeah." Danny said, bluntly. "It's kind of annoying." It wasn't, really, but it would have been if it were possible.

"It's not like you have any other plans, Danny." Jazz came up behind them, admonishing her brother. "You should spend some time with her. It might do you some good."

"What I do is none of your business, Jazz." Danny glanced over at her. "And I do have plans." He held up a finger then, stopping her. "And, like I just said, they're none of your business."

Jazz had a bad feeling about that. Knowing Danny, she figured he was probably going to try and track Daniel down. She was afraid to find out what he might do to the boy, especially since he seemed to be convinced that he had stolen his 'humanity'. Jazz still didn't understand what she was talking about, but she knew whatever it was made perfect sense to Danny.

One would think that with most of his emotions gone, Danny would be able to think very rationally, and logically, yet, he didn't. In fact, at times his thought process baffled Jazz. He did things that didn't make logical sense, and she wondered exactly what was guiding him to do such things.

"Well, can you include Sam in those plans?" Jazz asked, looking over at the raven haired girl. "She just wants to be your friend, Danny. You don't get many people who actually want to associate with you, you know?" She pointed out. She didn't want to admit it, but it was true.

"Come on Danny, it would be fun." Sam said, silently thanking Jazz for helping out. "Being alone all the time has to get a bit boring after awhile."

"No, not really." Danny glanced over her, as if he didn't understand what she was saying. He was perfectly fine when he was alone. He thought it was much better than hanging around other people, to be honest. The only reason he even interacted with everyone as much as he did was to please his family. He'd caused them enough irritation and heartbreak already, he didn't really want to add any more to it.

Sam huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "God, you're so stubborn!" Her violet eyes glared at him. She was trying to be understanding, but he was starting to try her nerves. "I'm just trying to be nice to you, and this is the thanks I get in return? I'm really trying to be friends with you Danny, because I like you, and I think you're an interesting person! Why is it that you can't seem to appreciate that?"

Danny blinked, seeming to be taken aback. Jazz knew it for the mask it was, however, and it vanished as quickly as it had come. "I don't really understand why you're trying so hard." He admitted after awhile, his voice still monotone. "I don't understand why you're doing this. Did Jazz pay you, or something?"

And now? Now Sam was just plain offended. "Pay... pay me!?" She spat out, not believing what she had heard. "Is that what you think all of this has been?" She asked him, shaking her head in disbelief. "No, no, Danny, your sister has not been 'paying' me! I've been doing all of this out of my own free will, because I actually_ like you! _Why is it that you can't seem to understand that!?_"_

Danny paused, contemplating her words. He seemed to have really annoyed her, but he honestly couldn't understand why she was trying so hard. He'd never really had any friends before, even prior to the accident. He hadn't even started school at that point, so really, the only people he had known were members of his own family.

"I'm sorry?" He offered after awhile, in his usual monotone voice. He felt that he should apologize, because that was what you did when you upset someone, wasn't it?

Sam heaved a frustrated sigh. Now she was kind of starting to see what living with him must have been like for the Fentons. Still, he had apologized, even if it seemed like he didn't really mean it. "Fine, thank you Danny. Apology accepted." She paused for a moment, wondering if she should reconsider her earlier offer, but thought that might be somewhat hypocritical. "And I would still like to spend some time to get to know you."

"No." Danny cut her off, shaking his head. "Like I said, I have plans." After a moment of thought, he added, "But maybe tomorrow, since you're so insistent."

"Alright then, Danny, I'll see you tomorrow." Sam gave him a small smile. "Don't try and weasel your way out of it either, mister." She pointed at him. She said goodbye to Jazz, and left.

Once she was gone, Jazz glanced over at Danny. "You're not going to try and track the Masters kid down are you, Danny?" She asked, crossing her arms. While she was thrilled that he had agreed to spend some time with Sam, this bothered her.

"What if I am?" He asked, glancing over at her. "He's just a little crook, anyways."

"Listen, Danny." Jazz held up her hand. "Until we can understand exactly what is going on, I don't think you should go anywhere near him." She told him firmly. "I mean, what if the same thing as last time happens again? Do you even have any idea how terrifying that was for us?"

"It won't happen again." Danny assured her, though he wasn't certain. "Besides, that thief might know something anyways. I just intend to make him talk."

"How, by punching him in the face until he begs for mercy?" Jazz asked, glaring at him. "I know you Danny, and I know the warning signs for your rage. For all we know, he might have nothing to do with you condition." She frowned. "In fact, it's very likely that he doesn't. We know what caused your problems, Danny, and it was the Fenton Portal. Not some kid."

"Yeah, but you haven't seen what I've seen." He said firmly. "I know he's involved in this somehow. So you know what, Jazz? Why don't you just let me do what I think is right?" He asked. "I'm only thinking of you guys, really. You're so desperate to have me normal again that you'll try anything."

"That's because we know you want it as well!" Jazz protested. She could hear her parents coming up from the lab now, drawn by their argument. "We only want what's best for you!"

"Well maybe I'm just fine like this!" He snapped, his green eyes blazing from anger. "I can't even remember the stuff from before I was four any longer! So for all I know, you idiots could be making all of this shit up!" He hissed at her, inching dangerously towards being in an all out rage. "How do I know if that story is even true!?"

Jazz was taken aback by this, and didn't seem to have a response. Danny continued to glare at her, seething for a minute, then turned away, leaving the house. After the front door slammed shut, Jazz felt her knees go weak, and she fell to the ground. She had never, never, had Danny snap at her before. She'd never borne witness to his rage, not when it was directed at her.

"Oh Danny." Jazz shook her head, as her parents hurried into the living room. "Why couldn't I just have kept an eye on you then? Why was I a stupid kid?"

"Jazz, honey, no." Maddie hurried over to her, helping her daughter up. "No, it's not your fault that this happened. None of us could have seen this coming, sweetie, none of us. Please don't start blaming yourself."

"I know mom, I know." Jazz shook her head, trying to compose herself. "It's just hard."

"I know, sweetie. It is for all of us." Her mother assured her. "But we'll get through it, I promise. We have to keep hoping that someday we'll be able to make him better."

If only because they were afraid to face the fact that they might never recover their son.


	12. The First Confrontation

AN: Fufufu~ We're winding down to the big climax of the first arc. Two of a Kind will have two arcs, for the record. After this first one, I'll take a short intermission from the story to sort everything for Arc Two, which takes place a year into the future, together and make sure it all makes sense. Things are about to change in one or two more chapters folks, and things will get twisted. And what fun it shall be!

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Two of a Kind

Chapter Twelve: The First Confrontation

Although Daniel Masters had lived a privileged life since being adopted by Vlad, he wasn't necessarily the luckiest person on the planet. In fact, with his luck, it was a miracle that some tabloid reporter hadn't discovered his ghost powers yet, really. But, as it was, just a few moments earlier, he had gotten a lovely spray of puddle water from a speeding car.

"Ugh." He groaned, looking over his white trench coat. It was soaked, and caked with a heavy coating of mud. "Damnit, you jackass." He said underneath his breath. "I got your licence plate number though, you bastard. Just you wait."

At least he had gotten breakfast with no problems, he thought. Afterwards, he had decided to venture about the town, trying to get the layout of the place. After all, he could be here awhile- his father hadn't yet told him how long they would be staying here, just giving him a vague 'until my work is done' kind of answer. He got those from him a lot, really, but they had stopped bothering him after awhile.

After all, he wasn't really that interested in what his father did. And even if he had been, he had other things on his mind at the moment.

Grumbling to himself, he paused for a second, making sure the coast was clear. Seeing no one, he took his trench coat and quickly turned it intangible, the water and mud sliding right off of it. "That's better." He said to himself, putting it back on. He was still wet, but the sun was out, so he figured he would dry off soon enough.

Checking once again to make sure that nobody had seen that, he smiled when he saw that there was nobody really around. Well, it was still early, he guessed, and it was the weekend. People were probably sleeping in. He wondered for a moment if Sam was awake, and considered giving her call. Reaching into his pocket, he paused, groaning as he realized he had forgotten to bring his cell phone.

"Oh damnit." Daniel frowned. "That's just my luck."

He would have to go back to the hotel to get it- Vlad would kill him if he knew that he had gone out without it. The man liked to keep tabs on his adopted son, probably worrying that some mysterious government group might sweep in at any moment and take him away, never to be seen again.

Grumbling to himself, Daniel turned around and headed back in the direction of his hotel. He paused, however, as he further checked his pockets for his room key, and swore a bit once he realized it was missing as well. Of course, it only took him a few seconds for him to remember that he had ghost powers, and he could just phase right through the door.

Despite the fact that he had lived with them all his life, he still had moments like those. Vlad had encouraged him to use them as little as possible, since you never knew who might be watching. And seeing as he didn't think being carted away by the government and having horrible experiments run on him was such a good idea, Daniel for the most part obliged.

After walking down the street for a few minutes, he paused, frowning as he looked behind him. He got the feeling that something was coming, that began as a prickling sensation on the back of his neck. Although his body was always cold, he felt himself grow just a bit colder, goosebumps starting to appear on his arms. His frown deepening, he wondered if there was a ghost about. He often felt this way around them.

But no, he thought, coming to a full halt. This was different. He had felt it before, too, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it...

Until it was starting him in the face, rather. Or him, to be more specific.

Startled, Daniel took a step back, his light blue eyes looking over the young man in front of him. This was the first time he had gotten a very good look at him, seeing as how their first meeting had gone. The white haired boy seemed to not be having quite the disturbing reaction to him as he had the first time they met each other.

"You." The white haired boy spoke, his blazing green eyes looking at him with undisguised hatred. Now that he had a better look at this person, this thief, he realized that they looked even more alike than he had first realized. In fact, the only thing that was different about them was their hair and eye colors. Everything else, right down to the smallest detail, was exactly the same as it was on him on the raven haired boy.

They could pass for twins.

"Oh." Daniel bit his lip, seeming to realize this himself as well. "Um, hi?" He offered him a sheepish greeting, trying to smile at him. It was difficult, really, he could almost see the anger that was seeping out of him. "I, um..." He started, then found that he didn't quite know what to say. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Don't play with me." Danny almost hissed, the color of his green eyes intensifying. "We have to talk, little thief."

_Thief? _Daniel thought, his eyebrows knitting together. He didn't recall having stolen anything from this boy. They hadn't even met before yesterday, had they? He didn't think they had, surely Daniel would have remembered meeting someone who looked exactly like him. "Um, I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what you're talking about." He said, holding his hands up in the air.

That seemed to be the wrong move, only making the white haired boy angrier. Daniel found himself kind of wishing there were more people around now, so that he wouldn't have to be alone with this strange boy. "Um, really, I don't know what it is that you're trying to say." He said again. "We haven't met before, have we? I'm sure I would have remembered you."

Danny's eyes narrowed as he listened to him, convinced that he was just playing the fool. Although he had told Jazz he would try and control it when the two met next, he could already feel his anger getting the better of him, filling up his void with rage. "I said, stop playing stupid." He told him, reaching over to grab him by the wrist, yanking him towards him.

"You're going to come with me, and you're going to be giving me some answers." He almost hissed, their eyes meeting.

Okay, wow. This guy had some serious anger management issues. And what exactly was with those eyes, anyways? He could swear that they were glowing- and he knew that wasn't something normal human eyes should be doing. The thought popped in his head that this strange boy might somehow be related to ghosts too, just as he was. This theory was supported by the fact that his parents were both ghost hunters.

For now, he thought, he should probably do what the green eyed boy told him to. After all, Daniel wanted some answers as well.

"Alright, okay." Daniel told him, trying to work his hand free from his grip. He didn't want to use any of his ghost powers, lest he make Danny anymore suspicious than he clearly already was. "I'll come with you, there's no need to try and drag me along. Can you please let go?" He asked.

Danny paused for a moment, considering it. After a few seconds of silence, he let go of the raven haired boy's wrist. "Thank you." Daniel said, using his other hand to rub at it. He had quite the grip- his strength was nothing to be sneezed at, clearly.

Danny said nothing to him, just motioned for the other boy to follow behind him. Daniel did, kind of wishing that he had really brought his cell phone right now. He got the feeling that going along with this guy was not something Vlad would have wanted him to do. Really, the more logical part of him was screaming at him to take this chance to run away.

But at the same time, Daniel knew that he couldn't. He had been looking for answers to so many questions for as long as he could remember, and maybe this strange boy, this Danny, could give them to him. Maybe he could even give Danny some of the answers he so clearly sought as well.

Daniel wasn't stupid, really. He knew there had to be some sort of connection between the two of them. There were too many coincidences piling up around them, the very least of which were their near identical appearances. Tucking his hands in his trench coat pockets, Daniel made sure to pay attention to where they were going as they walked.

They seemed to be going pretty far, and had been walking for quite awhile now. Danny didn't say anything to him, just glancing back every once in awhile as if to make sure that he was still there. Daniel couldn't help but feel rather awkward, he had never been good with these kinds of silences.

"How much farther?" He asked, looking around. They were in the warehouse district now, by the docks. His white haired companion glanced back at him once more, and only pointed at a small, out of the way warehouse. It looked like it had been closed down for some time now, but one of the windows was open, suggesting that people had been inside it since.

Sure enough, Danny lead him to the place, and let himself in through the window. Daniel paused for a moment, thinking that maybe he should leave now after all, but his desire to talk with his near twin overrode it. He followed behind him, into the dark warehouse. The only light in the empty building was those from the windows. Though smaller than the others, the place was big enough that there were still patches of darkness here and there.

"Um, so, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Daniel asked, looking around, feeling just a bit nervous. He had ghost powers, sure, but he had no idea what this guy was capable of. He was just a little bit intimidating when he wasn't bleeding from his eyeballs.

Danny finally turned around now, watching him carefully. The raven haired boy found himself on guard, feeling as if he might strike at any moment. "Your light." He said after awhile, and for the first time, Daniel noticed how very monotone his voice was. His anger seemed to have settled down a bit now, the long walk having helped cool it off. "You have my light."

"Light?" Daniel asked, blinking. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." He said, pointing towards him. "You can see it too, can't you?"

"Oh, that stuff." Daniel nodded, realizing what he meant now. "Yeah, yeah, I can see it." He told him. "I just never knew that it had a name."

"It doesn't." Danny told him, eyes narrowing. "I know you looked inside of me- I could feel it." He told him. "And I looked into you, thief, and I know what I saw in there belonged to me."

"I'm sorry?" Daniel blinked, confused once more. "Look, really, I don't know what you're talking about when you say that. Could you possibly be a little more specific?" He asked. "Exactly how do you think I stole your... light, was it?" He asked, looking at him curiously. "See, I want answers just as much as you do, erm, Danny." He told him, finding using his own name to be a bit awkward.

"If you think I've done something to you, then I have to say you're mistaken. And if somehow you're right, and I did take your light, then I can guarantee that I didn't mean to. I didn't even know who you were before yesterday!" Daniel told him. "I know just about as much as you do about exactly what is going on here."

"Do you?" Danny asked, sounding skeptical. He had trouble believing that. "I'm not sure I trust you." He told him. He took a seat on one of the few boxes that had been left behind, crossing his legs in front of him. Still, even when he was relaxed, Daniel couldn't shake the feeling that he was waiting to spring at any moment.

"Oh come on." Daniel's shoulders slumped. "How can I make you trust me?" He asked him. "I don't want you to look at me like I'm some kind of enemy, Danny." He told him. "If there's something going on here between the two of us, then I want to know the truth just as much as I'm sure you do."

Danny seemed to pause for a moment, taking his question into consideration. After awhile, he raised a hand, pointing almost accusingly at him. "Then, tell me everything you do know, thief." It seemed that he wasn't inclined to use the raven haired boy's actual name.

"Um." Daniel blinked. "Alright. Just, just hold on one second, okay?" He asked him, taking a look around. He eventually found a filled box of his own, and pulled it over, taking a seat on it. Ghost powers are not, his legs still got tired from standing for too long, and they were already weary from that long walk. Danny, on the other hand, didn't even seem the slightest bit winded.

"Okay, all I know is that I don't know who my parents are." Daniel began, placing a hand on his chest as if to emphasize. "I don't even know where I came from, much less why my parents abandoned me." He didn't take his eyes off the white haired boy even for a moment, still not sure he could trust him not to suddenly attack. "My first memories were of being in the Ghost Zone. I was probably around four years old." He told him. "I don't know how I got there, but that is were Vlad found me."

"He took me in after that and raised me." He seemed to pause for a moment, debating whether or not he should confess the next part to this strange boy. After all, his parents were ghost hunters. Eventually, though, he decided that leaving even one part of the story out might prevent them finding the answers they both sought. "From an early age, I knew I was different than other people. I had..." he paused, trailing off, trying to find the best way to put it.

"Ghost powers?" Danny asked, finished his sentence for him. The raven haired boy looked up, seeming surprised.

"You have them too?" He asked. Okay, there was another coincidence.

"I just got mine." Danny told him, and as if to prove it, he turned one of his arms invisible. "They didn't start until _you _showed up at my house." There was that suspicion again, but Daniel couldn't help but think there was something weird about it. It didn't feel quite right, not all there- not as his earlier anger had.

"Oh." Daniel said, sounding almost a bit disappointed. So there was something going wrong with him that was his fault after all. He felt kind of guilty about it now, even though he hadn't intentionally done anything to him. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't mean to trigger anything."

"Right." Danny said, his voice back to the monotone. "Did you have anything else you wanted to add?" He asked.

"No, that's really all I know." Daniel told him. "I mean, there's the obvious, but I don't think I have to point that out to you." He bit his lip, wondering if he should ask. "Um, well, how about you?"

"Me?" Danny asked, then heaved a sigh. "Fine. Fair is fair." He told him. "When I was four, I was in an accident with one of my parent's inventions. It was supposed to be some sort of portal to the Ghost Zone." He said, looking at him in the eyes as he said that. "I used to look like you, you know." He said, motioning towards his hair and eyes. "But after the accident, this is what I came to be." He motioned towards himself.

_Ah, so that was it then. _Daniel hadn't been sure if his white hair was his natural color up until this point. "Oh." He nodded. "Um, yeah." He chewed on his lip, trying to think of what to say. "Well, I guess I can kind of see why you're so suspicious of me now, Danny." He admitted. "Those are some weird coincidences."

"I wasn't finished yet." Danny held up his hand, stopping him. "You really ought to consider yourself lucky, thief. Ghost powers from a young age?" He shook his head. "That sounds awfully nice compared to what I've had to go through." An odd smile formed on his face, one that Daniel couldn't help but think looked awfully think. "Or at least, I'm sure that's what I would say if I knew how I was supposed to be feeling through all of that shit."

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, sounding confused.

"I can't feel anything." Danny told him, rather bluntly. "Yeah, sure, you had to deal with abandonment issues and being a freak with ghost powers." He waved a hand, as if dismissing it all. "I've had to deal with not feeling anything except for anger for the past fifteen years of my life." He shook his head. "I know it's tearing my family apart, and I can't even muster up the slightest bit of honest sympathy for them."

He would have to apologize to Jazz when he got home. Now that he had time to think about it, he shouldn't have been so mean to her. Really, he knew they were only trying to help him. They had gone out of their way to take care of him, all of them. He was aware that they loved him, he just couldn't return the feeling.

Although sometimes, he knew that his parents looked at him, and thought of him like a ghost. At least, he knew his mother did.

She had seen his rage unleashed with her own eyes, after all.

"Oh." Daniel looked down at his feet, feeling kind of awkward. He didn't really understand what Danny was saying, really, but he got the feeling that it must have been pretty bad. Not something he would have wanted to go through. "I'm sorry for that."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." The white haired boy stood up then, looking down at him. "Now then, why don't you tell me why you have my light?" He asked again, his eyes narrowing. "I'm going to get it back from you, you know." He told him. "Then we'll see how you like being like this."

"That again!?" Daniel looked up, his light blue eyes wide. He thought they were getting someplace, too! "I told you already, I really don't know what you're talking about, Danny." The raven haired boy stood up. "I mean, really." He insisted. "If there was some way I could help you, I would be more than willing to."

"Oh, that's good then." Danny seemed to smile at him. "Jazz won't be as mad at me, seeing as you've offered now." And with those words barely out of his lips, the white haired boy's arm turned intangible once more, and slipped into Daniel's chest. Daniel's eyes went wide as he found the boy's arm sliding into him, and felt his eyes peering into him. They did not seem to bleed this time, and he was not in pain, but the very moment he laid his hands on the very thing he so desired...

Pain.

There was so much pain.

Danny tore his arm from out of inside Daniel, smoking as if it had caught on fire. The flesh on his hand appeared to be twisted and burned, and he let out a howl of pain. Daniel too, felt his own pain, clutching at his chest where Danny's hand had been just a moment before. It had felt like he had touched something inside of him, something important, and had tried to rip it out.

"_Damnit!_" Danny swore underneath his breath, his anger rising within him. What the hell was that? All he had done was try and reclaim what belonged to him- why had it rejected him? "You _bastard!_" He hissed at Daniel, almost seeming unaware that the raven haired boy might have been suffering even more pain than he was.

"What the hell did you just try and do!?" Daniel spat out, light blue eyes meeting his piercing green ones. Agh, but the pain didn't seem like it was going to go away! What _was _this? He had never felt anything like this before- at least, he didn't think so. There was a strange sense of deja-vu around it though, as if something similar to this pain, but not quite had happened sometime in his forgotten past.

"Shut up." Danny's eyes were blazing an intense green now. Though they were indoors, wind seemed to be kicking up around them, a few empty boxes starting to be pushed around by it. He was getting so pissed off now, angry that he was so close to what _must _have been the answer to fixing himself and yet he wasn't even able to get close to it.

He _knew _he was right. He _knew _that this Daniel Masters person must have been a thief. He had a feeling that he once had been a part of him, once, before the accident all those years ago. He didn't know why, he didn't know how, all he knew was that it had to be true. And when he had separated from him, he took away the most important part of him, leaving behind something that was only the shell of a human. A walking corpse, if you would.

There was no other explanation.

He didn't care as to why or how any of this had happened. The only thing he wanted was to fix himself. It had been his only desire, the thing that had sustained him through fifteen years of being basically an empty shell of a person, filled with nothing more than rage and hatred. Oh yes, part of the desire was because of his family, but part of it was because some part of him wanted to go back to normal. Some part of him just barely recalled what it was like to be normal, and it was that part of him that had been acting up a lot lately.

From even before Daniel had shown up.

He wasn't sure when he had noticed the increased desire to become normal again, just that it was there when he finally noticed it. He had to go back, for the sake of not only himself, but also his family.

And then there was Sam.

He'd no idea why the raven haired girl had popped into his head at the moment. She was nosy, and pushy, and he didn't think he really liked her that much. He saw no logical reason for why he would really want to be around her, save for her interesting light. So why had she come to mind?

In his state, Danny would probably never be able to realize that it was because he was in love. He'd never had a chance to feel such a thing, at least not for anyone outside of his family.

It was the one thing he didn't know how to replicate.

Daniel backed away from him, still clutching at his chest. This was bad, he had to get away from here now. The talking was over, that he knew. He had really hoped that they might be able to work things out, but it seemed that the his near twin didn't see things his way. Gathering up his strength, he turned invisible and backed away. He didn't wait long to take to the skies, making sure to remain invisible as he flew away from that place as fast as he could.

He kept going until the pain in his chest finally caught up with him, and he found himself falling out of the air. He braced himself for the impact, coming to crash land in an alleyway, where he finally turned visible again. Thankfully, nobody was there to see it, because now he couldn't have possibly gotten away.

He passed out there, fading into black.

_________________________________________________________

After Daniel had vanished, Danny had spent a long time in that warehouse, trying to cool down his rage, which now had nowhere to go. Although they had met in the early morning, night was falling now as he headed down the streets of Amity Park. Although he had gotten it under control, he could still feel it there, lingering within him.

The next time he saw that boy, he would take back what was his. That was what Danny knew. He didn't care what happened to Daniel after he did- it would be his punishment, what he deserved.

The next time they saw each other, Danny would get back his light.

Even if he had to rip him to shreds to do it.

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AN: Next chapter is shaping up to bring an end to Arc One, it seems, so stay tuned as everything goes to hell!


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